Invictus
by YamiPaladinofChaos
Summary: [Crossover with Ranma] An unexpected causality interrupts Naruto and Sasuke's fight, hurtling them to the doors of the Tendo Dojo. Yet even as they navigate the chaos of Nerima, back home, their disappearance causes a chaos all its own.
1. Chapter 1 To Break, But Not Bend

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, property of Masashi Kishimoto, nor do I own Ranma ½, property of Rumiko Takahashi. This disclaimer will be in effect for the remainder of the story.

_**Invictus**_

"_Out of the night that covers me, _

_Black as the Pit from pole to pole,_

_I thank whatever gods may be _

_For my unconquerable soul._

_  
In the fell clutch of circumstance _

_I have not winced nor cried aloud._

_Under the bludgeonings of chance _

_My head is bloody, but unbowed._

_  
Beyond this place of wrath and tears _

_Looms but the horror of the shade,_

_And yet the menace of the years _

_Finds, and shall find me, unafraid._

_  
It matters not how strait the gate, _

_How charged with punishments the scroll,_

_I am the master of my fate; _

_I am the captain of my soul."_

-_William Ernest Henley_

Chapter 1

To Break, But Not Bend

Emotions, strong emotions, are what can save or destroy, build or break the world. The stronger the emotion, the more difficult it is to control, the more impossible it is to resist.

It is strong emotions, emotions of hatred, of regret, of friendship, of love, of brotherhood that fuel this tragic battle that raged beneath the sky and above the earth.

These emotions, these thoughts were poured into their hearts and their fists, their souls and their power.

At this impasse, neither one will back down, can afford to back down.

_I can't look back._

_I have to move forward._

_I have to win._

"NARUTO!"

_I can't give up._

_I made a promise._

_I have to win._

"SASUKE!"

Terrible energy raged forth from these emotions, fueled by the curses these boys bore on themselves. The wrath of an ancient, malevolent demon fox and the corrupting power of a wicked man roared through the world.

No more words could be said between them. No more words were needed.

Everything that needed to be said had been.

True feelings, true beliefs, and understanding had come about.

Now, at this impasse, these two souls, like brothers, can do nothing now except decide who is, once and for all, the victor.

_I have to break through!_

"RASENGAN!"

_I'll cut my way through!_

"CHIDORI!"

Wind and Thunder, backed by the evil of Demon and Man, struck at once, and the strong emotions these two carried were unleashed, in an effort to determine a final victor.

The swirling maelstrom of viciously vibrant, malicious purple-black shadows warped the reality around them, bending it with these emotions that were too powerful to hold inside.

They pushed and pushed, desperate to decide a winner, and their emotions stretched their souls and their strength to the limit, until they had reached the breaking point, the end of their strength.

But neither was willing to surrender the victory, neither one could afford to.

Their eyes met once more, over the clashing force of their attacks, and they felt the overwhelming power they were creating, the backlash of this battle that was annihilating the area around them.

Memories, tens, hundreds, thousands of them came crashing down upon them.

-Laughing, crying, joking, bickering- _like brothers-_

The vision of a girl, a pink haired girl with soft green eyes and a mercurial personality appeared before their eyes, once more pleading with them.

"_Stop it you two!"_

But they would not falter.

Not this time.

Their wills were unbreakable, their powerful emotions too great to sustain.

And so it was that at last, an amazing, but perhaps inevitable conclusion arose...

For the world itself broke underneath the strain of their emotions.

---

Close in distance but too far away, the Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi felt the awful tremors as the world began to buckle before the overwhelming emotions of the two boys he had been given to mold and to shape, and had failed to.

"This... chakra... it's too great... there's no way that this should be possible!" Kakashi breathed, feeling the strain that the world was being put under as he raced forward.

His summon, the ninja dog Pakkun looked worriedly at his master. "What do you think's going on between Naruto and Sasuke?"

"I don't know." Kakashi said quietly, feeling helpless as his feet pushed on and on, on and on in a meaningless effort.

Suddenly, the strain ceased in a vicious blast of hateful white light that purged everything in sight, and Kakashi feared he'd gone blind as the whole world became nothing, nothing at all-

_Is this death-_

And then, without so much as a whisper or a bang, the light vanished as if it had never existed.

A moment later, it began to rain down hard, beating down upon Kakashi's silver hair, dripping down his forehead protector as the Copy Ninja realized he had frozen in place.

Pushing himself faster and harder, the Copy Ninja arrived at the Valley of the End, the border of the Fire Country.

There, he found the lingering traces of an epic battle- debris strewn about, the ground scorched and blackened, the once unceasing, deep river burned and blasted until the riverbank was dry and all that was left was rain to try and fill the gaps.

But he couldn't find the combatants, not even a trace of their persons remained anywhere on this world.

Kakashi sighed softly, because no one could hear him but Pakkun.

It would be a long walk back.

---

"RANMA! You get back here right this instant!"

Ranma Saotome, the sixteen year old Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts was-

"-IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"

The black haired, pig-tailed boy gave a taunting grin as he ran along the top of the walls, his long sleeved, red Chinese shirt with white cuffs and blue-green, lightweight training pants allowing him swift movement on the wall where he was running.

"Nyah nyah, can't catch me Akane!" he taunted childishly, as he stuck his tongue out at the girl following him.

The short haired blueheaded girl behind him growled ferally, and hurled her bookbag at him. "You could at least try a sample of my cooking!"Akane Tendo shouted furiously, her school skirt swishing as she ran.

A great deal of the time, Ranma was hit by Akane's bookbag (or any other object on hand that she could throw at him) because of distraction. And it rang true today, as any other.

Today's distraction just happened to be a bit more... _distracting_.

It came in the form of two voices that rang out... boy's voices, young ones, full of desperation and anger and sorrow.

"_NARUTO!"_

"_SASUKE!"_

Ranma, paused and slowed down, trying to find out where the voices were coming from. Unconsciously, the hairs at the back of his neck stood up and he felt a chill, felt his danger sense screaming that something was terribly wrong in the world.

"_RASENGAN!"_

"_CHIDORI!"_

And Ranma had barely skidded to a halt when a massive wave of white light poured out across the horizon, as if to boil away the sky. Like an awful cleansing tide, it burned at the sky, turning everything in his field of vision into nothing more than white noise.

A second later, the bookbag smashed into the back of his head.

---

All across Nerima, all across the globe, it was felt by those capable of feeling it.

The raw, untamed, unbridled emotions that flowed out, the sheer force of will, and the terrible power that roared forth because of it.

It was like being caught in a maelstrom, or being paralyzed and helpless before the unending tides of the ocean. Raw, snapping lines of power were being caught in a tempest, swirling around a single focal point.

Inexorably, the world buckled under the strain-

And righted itself, as though recovering from a backlash of tremendous, awful force, as though a massive gate swung itself back on its hinges.

---

Ranma groaned, opening his eyes slowly, cautiously. "Damn it Akane, it's bad enough those lights had to blind me, but you didn't have to hit me!" he cursed, standing up slowly, brushing himself off. Despite his irritation, he glanced at Akane and made sure she was okay.

But Akane wasn't staring at him, but straight ahead, where their home, the Tendo Dojo was.

"R-Ranma..." she stuttered slowly, staring in horror.

The pig-tailed boy turned and looked, steel blue eyes wide with shock as he grasped what he was seeing.

Slumped against the wall of the dojo was a young blonde boy in a very bright, very outlandish orange, blue outlined jacket with a long white collar and matching orange pants. The jacket had a particularly vicious hole torn in it and several bloodstains, and the boy himself looked awful, like he'd been through twenty battles in a row.

Against the opposing wall, exactly opposite of the blonde, was a pale, dark haired boy wearing a blue, short sleeved shirt and white shorts. He too, looked like he'd seen a rather brutal time of it. His face has several bruises and there were small pieces of rocks and dust on his raven hair. What was most disturbing was the burn marks on his right arm, as though he'd plunged his hand into raw lightning.

Around both boy's foreheads was a metal forehead protector with the symbol of a leaf with a spiral at the center inscribed upon it, tied together by a bandana.

"Oh my God..." Akane breathed softly, her hands quivering, her face turned a ghostly white. "We... we've got to get them to Doctor Tofu."

"Right." Ranma said, trying to keep the shakiness in his system out of his voice. "I'll grab the one in blue. He's taller."

Akane normally would have snapped at the reminder of Ranma's superior strength, but at the moment, her kind nature won out and she hurried over to the boy in orange, pulling him onto her back with a short grunt. Ranma did the same with the paler boy.

Together, they lugged the boys to Doctor Tofu's clinic.

---

"I've... I've never seen anything like this." The brown haired, spectacled Doctor Tofu breathed softly, hands wringing nervously against the green gi he wore. "The first boy... the one in orange? That hole in his jacket as small shards of bone and lung fluid, as though his lung had been recently ruptured. But the flesh underneath it is perfectly healthy." Pausing, the doctor pointed toward the boy's left arm.

"However, one of his arms seems to have been dislocated and was unusable. I've set it back, but it was a nasty injury."

Ranma blinked and stared in surprise, while Akane gasped in horror.

"Who could have done something like this?" she whispered softly.

Sighing, Doctor Tofu rubbed his glasses against his clothing. "Then there's the other one. That one's right arm has the same sort of damage I'd expect from someone who grabbed onto a bolt of lightning. And from what I can tell, he's suffered some pretty harsh blows at speeds I've never heard of a human being capable of."

A dark look crossed the doctor's face and he motioned them with one weary hand over to the pale boy. "And there's something else. Look here." With a smooth motion, Doctor Tofu pulled down the collar of the shirt, revealing three black tadpole marks arranged inside of a circle.

"You see that? I'm not really sure, but I think it's acting a lot like a pressure point technique, and draining away at the boy's ki. Though why... I'm not sure." Doctor Tofu finished darkly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I found these on the blonde boy."

The doctor tossed a small, round beige pouch onto the table, as well as a dark blue holster filled with shuriken that spilled out, gleaming in the artificial lights. The two forehead protectors were already lying on the table as well.

"Why would they have weapons? What do you think happened to them?" Akane asked quietly, looking first at Doctor Tofu, and then shooting a longer, questioning glance at Ranma, who wore a troubled frown on his face.

"We'll find out when they wake up." Ranma replied tersely, fists tensing. He didn't know why, but something about the two boys, young as they were, gave off the impression that they were tough. The fact that they were armed wasn't easing his mind at all.

"Hm... boys that young carrying real live weapons." Doctor Tofu rubbed the back of his head, obviously bewildered. "It's baffling."

"Maybe we should let them tell us before we jump to any conclusions." Akane said quietly, biting her lip tightly.

Ranma regarded her for a moment, before sighing, and nodding. "Alright."

---

_In the dream, he was back at the hospital rooftop, back fighting Sasuke, back when he wasn't bound by a promise, and was free to fight without any thought except one._

_Victory._

_In the dream, it proceeded like his memory- the flames of Sasuke's Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu technique dissipated away as he formed the Rasengan, blowing the inferno away in moments. Sasuke formed the seals for Chidori, and in moments the chirping of a terrible chorus of birds filled the air. _

_Neither one cared they could kill the other. _

_Sakura did, though. Sakura who was the one who they protected, guarded with their lives. Sakura, who threw herself between them in a vain attempt to bring sense back to Team Seven. _

_In the dream, it all went wrong after that. _

_He didn't know which one of them hit her first- nor did it matter, as they felt it, felt the blows pierce her pale, lovely skin, felt her body crumple and sag, and suddenly there was blood, blood everywhere, soaking into his hair, his eyes, mixing with his tears-_

And Naruto Uzumaki jolted awake, eyes snapping open as he felt sweat roll down his body. He didn't know where he was, and he felt the lightness on his body, realizing that someone had stripped him of his weapons.

"Hey... are you alright?" a soft, gentle voice asked.

Blinking, Naruto found himself meeting a pair of doe brown eyes and a kind smile. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly, more out of surprise than rudeness.

"I'm Akane. Akane Tendo. And you're inside of Doctor Tofu's clinic." She replied slowly, allowing Naruto to get a good look at her. She was older than him, probably in her late teens, and didn't look like much of a fighter. "What's your name?"

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki." The blonde replied quietly, somehow lacking his usual loud bluster as he felt the drain on his body wearing on him. He felt like he could sleep for a week, and then eat ramen for two weeks straight after that.

"Are you in pain?" Akane asked, concerned as she leaned forward, watching his facial expressions carefully.

"I'm alright." Naruto replied. After a moment, he realized something was missing from his forehead.

"Where's my forehead protector!" Naruto blurted out, scanning the room nervously. His forehead protector was more than a symbol of his status as a genin- it was the best gift anyone had ever given him.

"You mean this?" Akane asked, pointing toward the table where two forehead protectors, as well as Naruto's weapons were strewn across. "We had to take it off of you."

"Oh, okay." Naruto said easily, nodding his head as another thought crossed his mind. "Where's Sasuke?"

"You mean the other boy?" Akane questioned, and a spark of hope lit inside of Naruto's heart. Maybe he still had a chance at bringing the Uchiha home. "He's resting in another bed, see?" she moved aside a curtain, exposing the still unconscious Sasuke.

"Heh... looks like that bastard got it worse than me." Naruto grunted, struggling to move his body into a sitting position.

"Hey! You shouldn't be moving around like that!" Akane chided, moving her hands forward to push him back down.

"No... I'm alright." The blonde responded tiredly, finally managing to pull himself into a sitting position with a grunt of exertion.

"Are you hungry? I could go get you something to eat." Akane offered kindly.

"Ramen please!" Naruto said eagerly, the exhaustion on his face falling away as he spoke, replaced by the usual eager grin when he wanted his favorite food.

Surprised by the blonde's eager, rapid response, Akane smiled a bit wider and nodded. "Alright. I'll be back in a bit, so just try to get some rest."

---

"Great grandmother? What is wrong?" Shampoo asked quietly, unnerved by the elder's taciturn manner ever since the white light had swept across Nerima. The blue haired girl leaned forward, her pink, flower printed Chinese style clothing looking a little ragged, a result of her falling down during the incident.

"Something strange is afoot." Cologne murmured, more to herself than to her descendant. She had placed herself atop her old, knobbled wooden staff, her long white hair reaching just barely to the ground as her tiny, wrinkled body sat still, clad in her usual green, red fringed garb with the Chinese symbol.

As she spoke, the door opened, and in stepped one of the less frequent visitors to the Cat Café, Akane Tendo.

"What Kitchen Destroyer want?" Shampoo questioned rudely, placing her hands on her hips.

"I need a couple orders of ramen." Akane said, ignoring the urge to rise to the Chinese girl's bait. The Amazons from China weren't normally her favorite people to visit for food, but injured people's needs come first. It was too bad that Mousse was in his duck form (noticeable because of the loud quacking in the back of the kitchen) because at least she and the near blind boy were somewhat friends.

"Wait a moment there Akane." Cologne hopped toward the girl with a curious look on her face. "You wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you?"

"Nope. Could I have that ramen?" Akane lied, not wanting to have to endure Shampoo's endless croons about her "Airen (_husband)_", Ranma, and could especially see avoiding her glomping the pig tailed boy.

Cologne looked at her guardedly, and for a moment, Akane feared that her ruse had been discovered. The moment passed without incident, however, as Cologne motioned Shampoo toward the kitchen.

"Two orders of ramen, coming up!"

---

"Great grandmother?" Shampoo whispered softly, the ornaments keeping her hair in buns swishing in the breeze. "Why we follow Kitchen Destoryer?"

"Because, child, she knows more than she's letting on." Cologne replied easily, eyes watching Akane as she took the metal encased ramen toward the Tofu clinic. Akane didn't suspect a thing, completely unaware that her bluff had been easily seen through by the Amazon elder.

There was the slight rolling sound of wood as Akane opened the door to the clinic.

"I'm back!" she declared, holding each encased ramen tight in both hands as she shrugged off her shoes. There was no reply.

Frowning, Akane slowly opened the door to the room where the boys were being kept, and where Ranma was supposed to be watching over them.

As she opened it, she heard Ranma's familiar voice shouting, "Quite buggin me! I don't know where that dumb tomboy is, and I don't care!"

"Ranma!" Akane snapped, and set the ramen down. The pig tailed martial artist turned, looking at the girl with shock and not a little bit of fear. Which was duly deserved as suddenly there was a Ranma shaped skylight in the clinic and a boy flying through the air (which was common enough for Nerima).

Naruto opened his mouth once, twice, trying to make words, looking like a fish out of water. Finally, he managed a shaky, "Scary..."

Akane smiled suddenly, as though she had not just knocked a young man through the roof with a single blow. "Sorry about that. Here's your ramen!" she said cheerily, presenting him with a steaming bowl of ramen goodness.

Any fear Naruto was feeling instantly dissipated as he gave into his one true love.

It was Akane's turn to be shocked as in a matter of moments, Naruto presented her with a completely clean bowl of ramen, smiling widely, his face messily covered in the soup and various vegetables, meats, and seafoods within the ramen.

"More please!"

Before Akane could respond (if she could, that is), another voice spoke out, quiet and full of sarcastic disdain.

"Figures, dead last, that you'd be stuffing your face instead of asking where the hell we are."

Naruto scowled and turned toward the now conscious Sasuke, who was sitting up against his bed with a smirk, offset by the fact that his face and clothing were badly damaged.

"Aw shut up, bastard." Naruto said irritably, before turning towards Akane, deciding to finally question his exact location. "Hey, where are we, anyway?"

"The Nerima district of Tokyo." Akane said plainly.

Naruto and Sasuke, in a remarkable display of team unity, looked at each other once, and then turned back toward Akane, and in unison shouted (roughly) the same thing.

"WHERE?"

"Where the Hell is that?"

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Rasengan-** A-level ninjutsu technique. The user focuses a set amount of chakra into their hand, and then releases it into a controlled, wildly spinning ball of chakra, disrupting their own chakra flow by forcing the Rasengan into the opposite flow (if one is right, then it flows left, etc.), which gives the technique its force. The resulting blow is like a concentrated hurricane._

**_Chidori_**- _A-level ninjutsu technique. The user grabs their wrist, and focuses chakra until it becomes visible, usually as blue lightning. It's used as a swift, powerful finishing blow that requires a great deal of speed and the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) to complete. It gets its name from the chirping sound it makes when it strikes. _

**_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Flame Type: Powerful Fireball Technique)_**- _Ninjutsu technique_ _in which the user gathers chakra in their hand and mouth, using the chakra in the mouth to spew out the flame and the chakra in the hand to control it. Though powerful, the user is unable to move and is vulnerable to attack. _

Alright, first off- no, Naruto and Sasuke are not all powerful and can wipe out the Nerima Wrecking Crew (henceforth known as NWC) in one go.

Since this does have Ranma ½ elements, there is going to be romance, but mostly on the Ranma world, and definitely no crossover pairings, except maybe for a few one-sided romances which are the core of Ranma ½.

Oh yeah, and there is zero yaoi in this story.

This could be set in the middle to the end of the anime series, or even after the manga ending. Frankly, it doesn't matter too much. I'll probably be using after the manga though, just so many of the people in Nerima have a more equal footing with Naruto and Sasuke.


	2. Chapter 2 Strangers In A Strange Land

"_Is there something we have forgotten? Some precious thing we have lost, wandering in strange lands?"_

_-Arna Bontemps _

Chapter 2

Strangers In A Strange Land

Normal.

This single word defines what Life is supposed to be like.

Marry a nice girl/guy, get a good house, a good job, have kids named and and retire, and spend the rest of life in leisure. Buy a dog, get a car, don't stray too far from the middle path.

Which is incredibly boring and utterly ridiculous, and plus, who really wants something that easy anyway.

Normalcy, however, is defined by each place. To each society, to each culture, what is normal is different.

And in Nerima, Nerimian normalcy is about as far from Anywhere Else's normalcy as possible.

Which is why no one is ever surprised to see teenagers soaring through the air at incredibly high altitudes, nor do they complain when martial artists run amuck on top of their rooftops, or wonder at the immense devastation dealt out on regular basis.

That's just how things are in Nerima, they say.

It's also why the only out of towner's who come to Nerima happen to be involved in these events.

Nerima, some have speculated, is a focal point of chaotic events and strong emotions that end up causing a great deal of property damage when acted upon.

Residents have simply become accustomed to the incredible amount of devastation and sheer insanity that takes place in their neighborhoods, and treat it as everyday life.

So when Ukyo Kuonji, after a long day at school, went out to throw out some garbage and found a pair of legs sticking out of the pavement, she didn't act the least bit surprised and instead, sighed in a resigned sort of way and pulled the legs from the man shaped hole they were residing within.

"Ranma honey, what'd you do to piss Akane off now?"

---

Sakura Haruno sighed, kicking up a small bit of dust with her shoe, not caring if it was scuffed or not, her pink hair swishing to and fro in the breeze. Despite herself, she had chosen to wait for Naruto and Sasuke at the one place she was most familiar with them in- the meeting bridge where Team Seven had met for so long.

There were plenty of things going through her head at the moment- a confusing mix of anger and love toward Sasuke for leaving and for thanking her, admiration, respect, and a few unidentifiable feelings towards Naruto for his promises and his strength, and a deep self hatred for herself and her own weaknesses.

She was a remarkable kunoichi, Sakura knew. She had the brain and the drive to use it, but she had gotten distracted by her crush and softened because of Sasuke and Naruto's strength. Because of that, she had been almost useless in battles that were far too close for comfort.

And when Sasuke and Naruto fought...

Sakura shuddered. If she had been thinking clearly, she would have tried some sort of jutsu to stop them- not throwing herself between them. If Kakashi-sensei hadn't been there...

Sakura did not want to be weak or helpless. In the past, she had reigned in on Sasuke and Naruto with words, but now words weren't enough. They wouldn't reach them. She needed strength if she was going to be the balance in the team.

But that was for another day. Right now, right here, this was where she would wait until Naruto and Sasuke returned. Then she could move on.

There was a figure approaching the bridge, slowly, carefully, with spiked hair-

-For a brief moment, Sakura hoped, hoped and wished with all her might-

And it fell apart as Kakashi-sensei came into view, his silver hair looking haggard from a sudden, fierce rain, and his lone eye was telling her all she needed to know, and the fact that he wasn't cheery, nose buried in his Icha Icha book was even more telltale.

Still, the Copy Ninja said it anyways.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura."

---

Akane Tendo probably should have been used to the weirdness that centered around her and Ranma on a daily basis by this point.

Boys turning into girls, girls turning into cats, giant ghost cats, cross-dressers, perverts, just about anything and everything had happened to Akane Tendo.

Still, she was rather shocked that the capitol city of Japan, whose name was one of the most famous cities in the world, right alongside Paris, London, New York, was completely unknown to two twelve year old boys.

"You mean you two have NO idea where Tokyo is?" Akane said, dumbfounded as she stared at Naruto first, and then at the pale boy, Sasuke.

Naruto shook his head. Sasuke merely grunted in what Akane translated as a yes.

"You two are from another world then, I suspect." Cologne's wizened murmur cut in through the silence, and the tiny elder hopped into the room on her staff. Her large eyes studied the two curiously.

"Gah! What is that thing!" Naruto shouted, scrambling backwards in his bed and pointing in shock at the Amazon elder.

Cologne frowned and bopped the blonde boy on the head with her staff. "Show some respect for your elders, whelp." She chided, glaring at him.

Sasuke snickered snidely, smirking at the blonde. "Nice one, dead last. Even old hags beat up on you now."

A second later, roles were reversed and Naruto was guffawing, pointing breathlessly at the annoyed Sasuke who now sported a brand new bump on his head.

Akane couldn't help but smile a little. The whole thing just seemed too absurd not to laugh at.

Shampoo stared openly, realizing something was amiss. Most people, when hit by her grandmother's staff, would go down and fall unconscious. Only people like Ranma and a few others could still be standing after a blow from the Amazon elder.

Cologne seemed to notice too, but filed it away. They were injured, and they weren't ready to fight just yet. She could watch them, gauge them, until she figured out what they were all about.

"Oh, I see we have guests." Doctor Tofu's genial, warm voice broke in, and he smiled widely at the two Amazons, who greeted him in turn. The doctor was a healer, and healers were given respect.

"What was that you said about another world?" Akane asked, remembering the Amazon elder's words before the interruption.

Cologne nodded crisply, turning herself toward the two boys, who were looking rather distracted. "Well," she began, but was cut off by a sudden arrival.

"Akane, did you have to hit me so far!" Ranma's voice broke in, annoyed.

Cologne's face flashed annoyance. "Son-in-law, we're currently trying to explain a situation here,"

"Ni hao Ranma!" Shampoo squealed, and leapt onto Ranma, practically attempting to smother him with her lithe, curvy body.

Naruto was having flashbacks to that blonde girl Sakura fought, who was always squealing and doing the same thing to Sasuke. And, just like when it happened to Sasuke, he was both annoyed at the attention others got from pretty girls, but he was also amused at the panicked look Ranma was sporting.

Akane, on the other hand, was more than annoyed, and growled dangerously. "Would you two knock it off!" she snarled, glaring with an intense fury. Ranma withered under the deadly look, and Shampoo huffed as Cologne pulled her away from the pig tailed boy.

Cologne's voice was thick with irritation and annoyance as she continued, "Now then, as I was saying, we are explaining a situation-"

"What situation?"

The person who stepped in behind Ranma was probably the weirdest girl Naruto had ever seen before, even discounting Hinata's Byakugan eyes and Haku (who wasn't really a girl).

She had her long brown hair done up in a boyish ponytail, and was wearing a boy's deep blue jumpsuit type of uniform. A belt of spatulas (Naruto did a double take to make sure he was seeing that correctly) wrapped across her torso like a bandoleer of grenades, and across her back was a massive spatula (even Sasuke had to double back and make sure he was seeing things correctly).

However, her features, while cute and feminine, had a certain masculine quality to them, most likely the result of a tomboy lifestyle. The only absolute way Naruto was able to tell she was a girl was the lack of an Adam's Apple, a lesson taught by the embarrassing incident with Haku.

Sasuke, unfortunately, had never learned to check an Adam's apple on androgynous looking people.

"Who's he?" the Uchiha prodigy asked bluntly, staring straight at the spatula wearing newcomer.

Ranma shivered a little, and backed away slowly from the enraged _girl._ "Hey... Ucchan... calm down..." he said slowly, but it was to no avail.

Ukyo Kuonji's eyebrow twitched, and she raised her shaking fist.

Naruto was reminded of Sakura's violent rages, and his lips quirked into a grin.

"I'M A GIRL YOU JACKASS!" she roared, and swung down with her massive battle spatula, coming down hard on Sasuke's skull.

The result- an unconscious Sasuke Uchiha and a Naruto Uzumaki who was doubled over on the floor, laughing like a maniac.

Akane sighed, rubbing her temples, feeling the onset of a headache coming on. "I get the feeling things are going to get weird... weirder than usual, anyway."

---

The Godaime Hokage, leader of the Hidden Leaf shinobi, Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin... was irritated. And more than a little hungover. And generally just pissy. Her blond hair was in disarray, her eyes bloodshot, and she just generally felt the need to snap at people because of that.

"Please repeat that, Kakashi." Tsunade said slowly, staring at him with a piercing gaze.

Hatake Kakashi knew when he was on thin ice, treading dangerous ground, etc. This was most certainly one of those times, since the Godaime's legendary strength could break him in two without any effort at all.

"I arrived at the Valley of the End, after the flash of light. Evidence of a battle, presumably Naruto and Sasuke's, was everywhere." That was a bit of an understatement, Kakashi thought. Craters strewn everywhere, holes busted into a cliff side and riverbanks, a river flow disrupted, it looked like a battle between gods, not a duel between two genin.

Tsunade motioned toward the gathered kunai and shuriken that the Copy Ninja had collected as evidence, and probably mementos.

"And this is all you could find of them?" the Hokage asked quietly, the worry in her voice evident over Naruto. Despite himself, Kakashi noted the symptoms that were subtle in her body- the veins that were pulsing, the tenseness in the wrists, the tightness around the corners of her eyes and jaw line- all signs of an increasing amount of anxiety.

The Sharingan was a great teacher, if you were willing to indulge in subtleties.

Kakashi swallowed, his throat tight. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. His first genin team... he had grown very fond of them. He felt like he had been doing something right for a change, just once, making the right choices.

And now his team was in pieces, scattered and broken and divided.

Frowning, Kakashi realized that _he_ probably didn't look much better than the Hokage.

"Yes."

Tsunade paused for a moment, and finally sighed, leaning into her chair, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She needed to return to the hospital soon enough- Shizune wanted her to check in on the Hyuuga and Akimichi boy's injuries.

"I guess the mission was a failure." Kakashi said slowly, softly, his voice betraying nothing. Not the angry grief that was roaring in his heart, not the deep, unsettling depression of failure, nothing showed through the mask on his face.

Tsunade looked up sharply, her gaze hard and acute, like a gleaming enemy kunai. "No."

Kakashi blinked, not certain he heard right. "No?"

"The mission is to be placed on Uncertain status. We'll decide if- when," Tsunade's voice quivered as she corrected herself, "Naruto comes back."

Despite a very cynical part of his mind caustically delivering a scathing rebuttal in his skull, Kakashi nodded, and, just for a moment, dared to believe the same thing.

---

"Well, although he seems to be unconscious, there's no really permanent or severe damage. He'll be fine." Doctor Tofu said, after a quick examination of the unconscious boy.

"Sorry." Ukyo said, embarrassed and blushing badly, wringing her chef's outfit nervously with her hands. After posing as a boy for most of her life, her femininity had become something precious to her.

Plus, the boy's attitude was something she _really _didn't like.

"That one might not be able to answer, but perhaps you can." Cologne said, hoping that there would be no more interruptions in this questioning session. "Tells us how you came to arrive here, if you have no idea where here is?"

Naruto shrugged, scratching the back of his head nonchalantly. "I dunno, grandma. Last thing I remember was a big flash of light." He said, not really eager to delve into the last moments of his battle with Sasuke. It had been... intense, to say the least.

Especially when the Kyubi no Youma stepped in and supplied him with that power, that raw, unrelenting, _awful_ power... but what was worse was the rage, the barely controllable and suppressed fury that boiled and churned in his blood.

He could control that power and that hatred, but just how much more could he have drawn upon? That was one tail- what about if it had been two or three, or even the full nine?

Naruto shuddered. He didn't want to _ever_ come into a situation where he needed the power to level mountains and summon up devastating tsunamis with the barest of effort.

"I remember that."

"Yeah, me too."

"It happened while I was cooking, so I only caught a glimpse."

"Shampoo remember too!"

Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo all nodded, remembering that brilliant, but terrible white light that felt like it was breaking the world open.

Cologne pursed her lips together and stared at Naruto with a hard, questioning look. "What happened before that?"

Naruto bit his lip. He didn't want to talk about it. The battle, the emotions, everything that they said to each other... it was private.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." Akane said gently, placing her hand on his shoulder and smiling, disregarding Cologne's annoyed look.

"Yeah, you just rest up for now, you and your tactless friend over there." Ukyo added, shooting a small glare toward the still unconscious Uchiha. The blonde found it a source of amusement that at long last, he'd found a girl who actually _disliked _Sasuke.

But past the amusement, Naruto fought a battle with himself. Regardless of his feelings about the battle, he desperately needed and wanted a way off of this world, so he could bring Sasuke back to Sakura, so he could become Hokage...

Cologne took the decision away from him when she gave a reluctant nod toward Akane and Ukyo. "The day is growing late. Rest up for now. But you will have to tell us sooner or later."

---

Ino Yamanaka was a gossip, a well known fact among most of the social circles in the genin and even a few chuunin circles.

Thus, when news of the genin who had gone to retrieve Sasuke, all of whom were either part of the Rookie Nine or Team Gai, Ino's connections had her hearing about it almost the moment they brought the first of them back.

No one had much detail, but Ino figured it couldn't have been that bad, seeing as how the families had gone to the hospital in worry, not in grief.

Deciding that, as a sign of their mended friendship, she would inform Sakura of it as well, she hurried over to where she had last been seen, the bridge where Team Seven had regularly met.

As she reached the bridge, however, Ino heard the sound of wracking, heartbroken sobs.

And knew something was terribly wrong.

Ino ran, ran faster than she had ever really tried pushing herself before, ran until she reached the bridge. There stood Sakura, looking more alone than ever before, her face puffy and red and streaked with lines of tears that wouldn't stop.

"Sakura..." Ino whispered softly, her steps hesitant and slow, but strong. She remembered another time, another situation that looked very similar to this.

"They... they're gone, Ino." No nickname, no teasing. Sakura was in bad shape, and her voice was barely holding itself together, quivering like the last pillar in a collapsing building.

"Who's gone?" Ino said quietly, placing her hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder. "Who?"

"Naruto and Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered softly, their names drifting into the wind and out of her reach. "They left me alone! Naruto promised me! He promised me!" she shrieked, and, on pure instinct, Ino grabbed Sakura and pulled her into a fierce, sisterly embrace.

"He promised me... he wouldn't ever let me down... he told me he'd bring Sasuke-kun back..." Sakura's voice was muffled and hysterical against her chest, and there were going to be tear stains all over her clothes, but Ino disregarded that, remembering a time when a pink haired girl was the best friend she ever had.

Despite her own annoyance of Naruto's loud, obnoxious antics and his bravado, she had to admire the boy's sheer determination- after all, he was the dead last of their year, supposedly the worst out of the Rookie Nine- but he beat up last year's Number One Rookie, the Hyuuga prodigy Neji.

But even knowing that Naruto was probably the most tenacious one of the genin, it was still Sasuke Uchiha he was up against- the last of what was arguably the most powerful clan in the Hidden Leaf, and a wielder of the infamous Sharingan.

"Kakashi-sensei... he... he said..." Sakura's voice was quieter, but no less hysterical, no less heart wrenching for Ino to hear. "He said they were just gone... gone!"

Ino said nothing still, deigning to hold Sakura tighter, trying to show the other girl that, despite the times they had argued and bickered, they were still friends.

So she held the pink haired girl, and looked up into the endlessly blue sky.

"Naruto Uzumaki... if you can hear me, you'd better get Sasuke-kun back as soon as possible." Ino whispered softly, too soft for even Sakura to hear.

"If you break that promise, then you'd better pray that you never come back, cause I'll kill you myself if you do."

---

Mousse sighed, feeling the hot water beginning to turn cold on his skin, a familiar, and altogether unpleasant feeling. Once again, Shampoo rushed off, probably to do something Ranma-related, while he was stuck at the Cat Café to feel miserable.

"Damn you Ranma Saotome!" the black haired Chinese boy cursed, fist clenched tight, his glasses pushed up with the tenseness in his body. It was bad enough that Saotome was learning Amazon techniques- but the pig tailed boy's skills were beyond his.

As Ranma fought more and more enemies and adapted, evolved his style and refined his techniques, Mousse relied upon his same old tricks and weapons to do the job.

Perhaps it was time for change.

A memory trickled into the back of Mousse's head, playing back like a distant echo.

"_Wait, Mu Tzu. Before you leave, it may be wise to take this."_

"_What is it? It feels kind of warm."_

"_That's my hand, you blind idiot. **This **is what you're supposed to take."_

"_It's... a scroll?"_

"_If you find your own skills insufficient in Japan, and are truly ready for the next level, then open this scroll. But only, only if you truly possess the determination to use what's inside."_

"Well, Master... its time to find out." Mousse said quietly, and reached into his robes, randomly naming off the items he pulled out. "Kettle, knife, katana, boomerang, rubber band, toilet paper, last week's newspaper, boxers- whoops, apple, textbook- Aha! There we go!"

He removed the bound scroll with gentle reverence, a maniacal glint in his eyes.

"Ranma Saotome... just you wait. I'll defeat you yet."

"Mousse? You here?"

The scroll clattered to the floor and the door opened with a bang as Mousse rushed out to greet his beloved with a large hug. "SHAMPOO!"

Of course, it would have helped if he could see his beloved more clearly.

"SHAMPOO NOT A TABLE, STUPID MOUSSE!"

The blue haired Chinese Amazon scowled and huffed at the twitching, unconscious body, and gave him a kick in the ribs for good measure.

---

Sasuke Uchiha did not like waking up with a splitting headache. He disliked it even more when he realized _why_ he was waking up with said headache.

Now, Sasuke wasn't sexist, for the most part- he knew that kunoichi's could be just as deadly as shinobi- no, it was because his pride refused to believe that a girl with a giant spatula had just knocked him unconscious with one blow.

Frankly, it was just too embarrassing.

Unfortunately... Naruto had been there. And if there was something that Naruto loved almost as much as ramen, it was having some dirt on Sasuke.

So, after waking up with a headache and realizing that his body was _still_ sore and hurting from the battle- _Damn you Naruto, when the hell did you learn to hit so hard-_ he was then treated to the sound of Naruto's chuckles, directed at him.

"I can't believe that just happened." Naruto said breathlessly, grinning like an idiot. "Wait till Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan hear about this."

"Tell them and I'll kill you." Sasuke said darkly, glaring at the blonde.

Almost immediately, Naruto's good mood vanished and suddenly Sasuke could almost feel the sheer tenacity and fury that was suddenly building within the other boy.

There was a time when that would have simply made Naruto angry but not mean anything, not really a threat-

But that was before their battle. Before Sasuke really would have killed Naruto, if given the chance. Before he almost did, and only some unnatural healing power saved the blonde's life.

Sasuke broke eye contact, and looked away, trying to deny the fact that he felt guilty about saying that.

Naruto turned away, and rolled into bed again, burying himself in the white sheets.

After a terse, endless silence, Naruto finally spoke again. "How do you think we got here?"

Sasuke shrugged, and winced as a bit of pain shot through his left arm, the one he had used Chidori with, three times in a single day. The Uchiha felt a small bit of satisfaction at knowing he had exceeded the limit Kakashi-sensei had thought he had. "That blast from my Chidori and your attack-"

"Rasengan." Naruto said defensively, feeling a bit put out that Sasuke had never heard of his attack. Then again, most people didn't know he had mastered the Rasengan anyway.

Mentally filing away a note to find out about that technique (a powerful jutsu like that, and one that couldn't be read and copied by Sharingan was worth looking into), Sasuke continued on, "Must have sent us here."

"So... do you think if we fight again, we'll be able to get home?" Naruto asked quietly, turning back over, looking at Sasuke with a serious look that did not fit well with Naruto's normally cheery face.

"Not in the shape we're in." Sasuke said, and fell back into bed. It would be awhile before he was up to fighting again, he understood, and he didn't want to risk activating the curse seal until his body was back up to its full strength.

Naruto nodded, and rolled back over so that he wasn't facing the other boy. "'Night bastard." He grunted.

Sasuke made a small "tch" noise that probably counted as a goodnight.

* * *

Author's Notes

If some people complain that Ukyo shouldn't have been able to hit Sasuke, let's remember he was still sitting on a hospital bed after his intense fight with Naruto. Doctor Tofu's normally has one bed, but they towed in another (they made room somehow).

I've decided I'm going to keep a few of the honorifics, namely, "Sakura-chan" with Naruto and "Sasuke-kun" with Sakura. And probably "Tsunada-sama " and maybe "Tsunade-baba" too, since those seem especially important. I read the translated scans of the manga, and so I'm used to those honorifics, but not with others. I know it's weird, but... eh.

On to an important topic- power levels.

Remember, Sasuke's fully matured Sharingan puts him equal to Curse Seal Level 1. That's important to note.

And as one astute reviewer pointed out, the Ranma ½ characters are a great deal stronger and tougher, though probably not as fast. Ninjas tend to have speed and flash- the Ranma character are mostly all like Rock Lee, using fists and feet.

Some people in Nerima (Ukyo, Kuno, Mousse, Shampoo) are not at Sasuke or Naruto's level yet- but I'm going to work out those deficiencies over the course of the story. As you've read, Mousse is already on it.

**_Normal Sasuke (without Sharingan_**)- Probably a little above Mousse's level. (Note: I consider Mousse just a tier or so below Ranma and Ryouga- he does give them a run for their money at times.)

**_Normal Naruto (no Kyubi chakra)_**- Same, maybe a little less. Sasuke does show a small edge in the Hospital fight, since he's always countering Naruto's strategies and forcing Naruto to counterattack.

**_Sharingan Sasuke_**- Ranma and Ryouga's level. He's about as fast as Ranma, but not nearly as durable as Ryouga. Still, he can predict and counter moves, and has more strength and speed than in his normal form.

**_No tail Kyubi Naruto_**- Ranma and Ryouga's level. He's also about as fast as Ranma in speed, and below Ryouga in endurance. He's freakishly strong though, and probably just a little stronger than Ryouga.

I'll not go any farther than that, purely because to tell you who matches Curse Seal Level 2 Sasuke and One Tail Naruto and why is a possible spoiler. Same thing about the Hiryu Shoten Ha ideas.

Another reviewer commented that Sasuke seems rather casual with Naruto- well, he's Sasuke. Even in the battle with Naruto, he always treated Naruto with the same arrogant aloofness that Sasuke always has, up until the final moments of the battle.

Around other people though, he's putting up a front, acting like everything's normal, when it's not.


	3. Chapter 3 Out On The Town

"_I wasn't afraid of going places or doing new things. I would do just about anything or go anywhere. I'd get a notion in my mind and just follow it."_

_-Suzanne Vega _

Chapter 3

Out On The Town

"So, you're telling me that you found these two boys outside our dojo?" Soun Tendo mused, his thick black mustache quivering on his reddened face as he stared thoughtfully. He was wearing his usual dark green-brown gi, seated at the dining table. "Interesting."

"They looked like they'd been in a fight." Ranma added in, in between devouring the rice in his bowl and asking for more.

"Oh my. I do hope they're alright." Kasumi Tendo, the eldest of the Tendo sisters, said worriedly, her dainty hand on her lips, her long brown hair leaving a few errant strands near her face. The kind young woman, who was the pillar of support in the dojo wore a blue dress with her usual apron over it, looked distressed as she was handing Ranma back his bowl.

"I'm sure Doctor Tofu will be able to help them." Akane reassured Kasumi, idly picking up another pickle with her chopsticks and sticking it into her mouth.

"If they were in a fight, perhaps there is some sort of trouble brewing, eh Tendo?" the bandanna wearing, bald Genma Saotome said, thoughtfully pushing up his large round glasses, looking rather sated after his meal. His white gi had a few errant pieces of rice that clung to it, and he sat himself in a meditative position.

"Indeed Saotome." Soun answered carefully, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Ah, jeez pops, they're just kids." Ranma said dismissively toward Genma, who gave him a stern look in response.

"Even the youngest warriors can be dangerous, boy!" Genma chided his son sternly, standing straight up and glaring at his pig tailed son, fists clenched tightly. "You should know to nerve underestimate your opponent!"

"Aw, get off it pops!" Ranma scowled, standing straight up, his own fists at the ready.

"I'll teach you not to underestimate your opponents!" Genma shouted, and the usual Saotome family brawl at dinner took place once more, as Ranma and his father knocked each other into the yard.

"Don't those two ever quit?" Nabiki Tendo, the middle daughter of the family drawled, rolling her eyes, her cropped, bobbed brown hair shifting with her head movements. Inside, however, she was calculating carefully, thinking of her ever-present goal- profits.

There hadn't been anything aside from the standard fighting that occurred in Nerima on a daily basis- Ryoga running about and destroying property in his battles with Ranma, Mousse hunting down Ranma, Happosai being chased down by hordes of women headed by Ranma...

Two newcomers though, had the potential for new horizons and new betting pools.

It wasn't that Nabiki was greedy so much as she was an extreme pragmatist, being the one who managed the finances of the Tendo household and brought in money from her gambling and other such activities at school. She didn't have a talent for the martial arts, at least not as much as Akane, and she wasn't a homemaker like Kasumi.

But she could manipulate and bring home some cash... in her own way.

And right now, Nabiki Tendo could smell opportunity.

The only who hadn't spoken so far was the Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, which was highly unusual, given his loud demeanor. The tiny, wrinkled and bald old man that looked more like a troll in a purple gi than a martial artist did not look threatening, but he was frighteningly powerful, with techniques whose power was as great as the perverse activities they were used for.

"Newcomers, eh? Sounds like fun." Happosai murmured quietly, a mischievous grin crossing his weathered face. He had found that the constant battles with Ranma were starting to lose their glamour, and finding new challenges were, of course, a primary part of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

Of course, it helped that Happosai often made a hobby of tormenting people for his own amusement.

---

Shikamaru Nara was not someone who enjoyed brooding, nor partook of darkly mulling over past events. However, he was also not someone used to having the responsibility of leading a group of four other boys who were close to his age, and all of whom (except Neji) were "sort of" his friends.

_I totally screwed up. If it hadn't been for those Sand ninja, we would have been finished._ Shikamaru thought darkly, scowling at himself.

"Oh, get that look off your face." A boisterous, rude, female voice chided harshly. Temari of the Hidden Sand rolled her eyes, tapping her fist against her giant fan weapon with an annoyed look. Her forehead protector was around her neck, and her desert style clothing was relatively undamaged compared to his. "The dark, brooding look doesn't work on lazy people."

Shikamaru refused to answer this _troublesome_ woman and give her the dignity of a response.

"Don't be an arrogant idealist." Temari continued, pressing her argument with a bored, apathetic look on her face. "You should know that sacrifice is inevitable, and some battles just can't be won."

"Training and actual combat are two different things." Shikamaru said, finally speaking with a low, upset tone that was unlike his usual bored drawl. "In a mission, anything can happen. I was a leader for the first time in a real mission... and because of that, I know now." His face was lined and weary.

"I'm not worthy of being a shinobi."

"Jeez... what a weird guy..." Temari scoffed, rolling her eyes, crossing her legs.

Shikamaru stood, up, resolute but somehow, smaller than he had been to Temari. "All I could do was trust everyone else to do what I couldn't. I was probably the weakest one out of all of us, but I was their leader." He said quietly, placing his hands in his pockets and staring down at the floor, the only thing his eyes would meet.

"So then, you're just going to run away from the pain?" Temari said, her voice full of disgust.

Shikamaru was silent, refusing to meet her challenge, and began to walk away. Temari briefly considered saying something more, but another voice cut in.

"I never thought I'd see a day when my own son became a coward." Shikaku Nara said coldly, his scarred face that looked like an aged and tanned version of his son's twisted into a scowl.

"I don't want an argument. I'm not a woman." Shikamaru retorted calmly, not turning around, not rebuffing the accusation.

"Then think about this." Shikaku growled, but didn't move. "Your companions will still have missions, and they will still run the risk of death."

Shikamaru seemed to freeze up as his father continued to speak. Temari, despite herself, was interested in hearing what the older man had to say.

"However... if you are their leader, perhaps you can help them avoid that end. You will know that you have done everything you could to save their lives. If you truly care about your comrades, then stand up and become something greater for them!" Shikaku's voice raised slightly, filled with a measure of anger. It quieted down soon enough, however, into a calm, steely tone, like iron cooling after the fires of the forge.

"That's what a real comrade... a real _man_ would do."

Shikamaru bowed his head.

Temari glanced at the spiky haired boy with a little bit of worry in her eyes.

A door opened at that moment, and the Godaime Tsunade stepped forward, a tired, exhausted but triumphant look on her features. "I used an antidote to the cell destroying effects of the Akimichi clan pills. He was saved just in time, thanks to some research and notes in the drug mixing manual of the Nara clan."

Shikaku smiled. He was godfather to the Akimichi's son, and was quite fond of the boy himself. "Thank you-"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune, Tsunade's black haired apprentice shouted, smiling and wiping a great deal of sweat from her brow, her black kimono stained heavily, and obvious result of the intense degree of hard work she showed in fighting to preserve Neji Hyuuga's life. "The Hyuuga boy's condition is stable at last. He should be awake by tomorrow."

"You see son... your companion's survived." Shikaku said gently, placing his hand on his son's shoulder, missing the dark look that crossed the Hokage's face.

"I'm sorry but... I'm afraid that is still in question." Tsunade whispered softly, and bowed her head, her fists clenched tight enough that her knuckles were white. Her triumph had fallen away like autumn leaves, replaced with bitter sadness.

Shikamaru jerked his head toward the Hokage, small teardrops flying from his face with the movement. He had been crying, Temari noted with a degree of pity and disgust.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said softly, reaching toward the blonde woman with whom she had traveled with for so long.

"Naruto Uzumaki... and Uchiha Sasuke... are missing in action." Tsunade finished quietly, and, much to the amazement of everyone in the room, a small tear made its way down the Godaime's cheek.

Temari knew those names, but her mind was dwelling more now on the blonde Uzumaki brat. That one was a serious threat- no one had ever before drained Gaara and exhausted him completely, not to mention actually changing her younger brother's bloodthirsty, sociopathic nature.

A conversation with Gaara popped into her mind, days after his encounter with Uzuamki, when they had returned to the Hidden Sand.

"_I want to be different Temari." Gaara said quietly, as he laid in a bed, for the first time to recover from his injuries. Just the fact that he used her name shocked Temari._

"_I want... I want to be like Naruto. I want to find and protect my own precious people..." Gaara whispered softly, and closed his eyes, as if he'd fallen asleep, and for a moment, he looked like a normal twelve year old boy._

_Temari, despite all her trepidation toward her youngest brother, couldn't help but smile gently and brush the tips of his crimson hair in a motherly fashion. "Thank you... thank you Naruto Uzumaki. Thank you for giving me back my baby brother."_

Temari desperately hoped that the loss of this person, with whom Gaara held so much respect for, would not be the cause of a relapse into Gaara's bloody ways.

Shikamaru's fist closed tightly over itself, and he didn't stop the tears that were pouring down his face. Temari looked at him with an odd mixture of amusement and respect.

"The next time... next time, I'll do it right," Shikamaru whispered softly. He liked Naruto's laid back attitude, and respected the blonde boy for his surprise victories over opponents who were thought to be out of his league.

"For Naruto. I promise... next time, I'll make sure to do it right."

---

"Where is he! Where's that little pervert!"

Naruto Uzumaki's eyes opened slowly, blearily as he glanced up at the window, realizing that there was a blinding light pouring out like a shining rain from the window.

Groaning, he blinked blearily and sat himself up, glancing over to where Sasuke lay, sleeping peacefully. Despite himself, Naruto felt a small measure of pride and satisfaction. _I beat his ass down good._

"He went that way!"

The shouts interrupted his private, silent gloating and Naruto's interest was peaked as he continued to listen.

"We'll teach that pervert a lesson this time!"

Sasuke made a slight groaning sound, and cracked open a single eye. "What'd you do, dead last?" he asked sleepily, pulling the sheets over his head tiredly.

"It wasn't me!" Naruto said defensively, but his interest was peaked. He had strong dislike of perverts- strange for someone who was the creator and master of the infamous Oiroke no Jutsu- and was quite happy to beat down on one.

He was still in his dirty and damaged orange jacket and pants, but Naruto didn't care. He loved the outfit, and would rather pay to get it repaired than ever think about replacing it.

After a moment, Naruto grabbed his forehead protector and tied it around his head tightly. Sasuke's forehead protector glinted against the window light. Naruto looked at it for a moment, and smiled slightly.

As he put on his shoes and stepped outside, Naruto heard the voices coming closer. With a grin, he bounded off in the direction of the shouts.

---

"Hotcha! Can't catch me!" Happosai shouted gleefully, waving his hand in a backwards greeting toward the angry crowd who was chasing him, the large green, white speckled bag of stolen women's underwear bouncing behind him. The old man was running along the walls, just out of reach of the angry women who he had stolen from.

"You get back here you old freak!" Ranma growled, being the only one of the group who could keep up with the Master of Anything Goes on the wall.

Deciding to fan the flames a bit more, Happosai grinned, turned around, and blew a raspberry at the pig tailed boy.

"Nyah Nyah!" he taunted mischievously, feeling great. Perversion, for the Master of the Anything Goes Martial Arts style, was not just a hobby- it was what kept him alive, it was his what defined and ruled his life.

"Oi! Old man! What the Hell do you think you're doing!"

Happosai and Ranma both paused at the sound of a new voice, and the old man turned, sighting a loud orange blur coming towards him at high speed.

With an amused sneer, Happosai flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the haymaker that the orange blur, now revealed to be a young, twelve year old blonde boy, was throwing.

Naruto stumbled and struggled to regain his balance on the wall, growling and scowling at the old man as he nearly collided with Ranma.

Happosai landed with grace that belied his immense age, grinning at the blonde boy. "Well now, I take it you must be one of those new boys in town?" he said rhetorically, idly placing his pipe in his mouth.

"Who the Hell is this guy?" Naruto asked aloud, clenching his fists tightly. After old lady Tsunade, he should have learned by now that the elderly could be the most dangerous people of all.

"Name's Happosai, Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts." The old lecher said, idly blowing out a bit of smoke.

"More like Master of the Perverts!" Ranma shouted angrily, and, after sidestepping Naruto he lunged for Happosai, arms outstretched and ready to grab the old man-

Happosai idly placed his pipe on Ranma's chest, and with a flick of his wrist, sent the pig tailed boy crashing into the wall, about ten feet backwards.

With a groan, Ranma rubbed his head after the impact, but otherwise seemed only dazed.

"Ranma!" Akane said, running over to the pig tailed boy in concern. Once she made sure he was unhurt, she scowled at him and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you should know by now not to attack Happosai from the front."

"Well boy, do you still wanna fight?" Happosai asked with a cocky smirk.

Naruto, used to Tsunade's freakish strength, smirked back with a fox-like twinkle in his eyes. "A pervert huh? I know how to deal with them!" his hands flew into a set of rapid fire seals, ones he himself had perfected.

Ranma and Happosai could barely track them, but neither of them knew what to make of the hand movements.

The Master of Anything Goes was prepared however, for just about anything, and made a low growl, crouching slightly.

Naruto smirked wider in response. "Oiroke no Jutsu!" he called out, and vanished in a loud puff of white smoke.

"Sexy Technique?" Akane blinked in surprise, and, a second later, her jaw dropped, along with everyone else's.

"Hey there, big boy." A very buxom, very beautiful, very _nude_ blonde woman was standing where Naruto had been, and was bent over, blowing Happosai a kiss.

"Hotcha! Hey there sweetie!" Happosai yelled gleefully, leaping forward in a glomp-tackle, aiming directly for the blonde girl's bosom.

Girl-Naruto gave a loud shriek and leapt backwards, disappearing in that same puff of smoke and returning to his younger, not to mention more masculine, form. Naruto stared, open mouthed in shock. "He's some kind of super pervert," he muttered to himself, and once again, his hands flew into another set of seals, this one for a more serious technique that before.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Audible gasps and loud exclamations of surprise echoed around the block.

"Amazing..." Akane whispered reverently.

"That's... that's nuts..." Ranma muttered, shocked.

There were now twenty Naruto's, all of them surrounding the tiny Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts with mischievous grins on their faces. Each one of them was an exact copy of the original, and each one of them had a real, physical body.

"So you brought in some reinforcements, huh?" Happosai said, still smirking with a superior look on his face. "Sorry kid, but that won't be enough to take me down!" with that, he charged forward, bringing his pipe to bear, like a staff.

The Naruto army smirked and gave a low chuckle. "Harem no Jutsu!" they called out in unison.

Twenty beautiful, buxom and very much naked blondes surrounded Happosai, all of them moving to perform various sexy poses and suggestive movements.

Every male in the vicinity, including Ranma (much to his own chagrin) toppled over, spurting blood in a way that only a certain Lost Boy was normally prone to do.

Akane scowled jealously and gave the semiconscious Ranma a none too gentle kick in the ribs.

Happosai shuddered and trembled, his entire frame visibly shaking with the effort of not breaking down. "No... I... I... I won't be defeated..." he said shakily, nearly choking on his own words.

"Are you alright, big boy?" the Sexy no Jutsu-Naruto's breathed huskily.

And it was over.

Despite his incredible lust and love for perversion, not even Happosai could withstand the awe inspiring (or arousing) power of the Harem no Jutsu.

And so it was, to the shock of Ranma and Akane, as well as to everyone else, that Happosai blushed like a schoolgirl before toppling over and off the wall, a geyser of blood shooting out from his nose.

As he fell, the old man croaked a shaky, breathless, "What... a... powerful technique..."

---

Sakura didn't know how she got home- she supposed she had to thank Ino for that, and made a note to try and reciprocate Ino's attempts to renew their friendship. However, right now, she was stuck in a mire of depression, unable to break free from it.

She believed they were still alive- she _had_ to.

If Naruto's promise had become the foundation of all her hopes, this belief was the cornerstone.

Her stomach rumbled slightly, and Sakura made a low mumble. She had fallen asleep without eating, and hadn't eaten much since Sasuke and later Naruto left the village.

As she walked, she saw a sign- Ichiraku Ramen.

Sakura's lips quirked up slightly, and she made a half sort of smile with eyes that were threatening to break out into tears again. Without thinking, she walked in, half expecting to hear Naruto's loud voice asking for "another please!"

She sat herself down at the ramen bar with a small sigh. "One large beef ramen," Sakura said listlessly, passing the money necessary over the counter with a seriously lackluster effort. Normally, she disliked ramen- but today, today she would make an exception.

As the cook handed her the ramen, a familiar voice called out, "One large chicken ramen."

Sakura would have spat out the ramen if she had been eating any at the time, and, with shocked, widened eyes, she turned to meet the pale emerald eyes of Gaara of the Desert, giant sand gourd and all.

If the Sand ninja recognized her, he made no sign, and indeed, simply sat there, as though he had always been at the Ichiraku Ramen and she had simply never seen him before.

It was only after Gaara received his ramen and began to put salt into his meal did he finally speak. "You're Naruto's friend." He didn't say it as a question, and it seemed he expected no response.

"Y-yes..." Sakura said nervously, halfheartedly chewing the meat as she watched the insomniac from the corner of her eyes.

"Do you know where he is?" Gaara asked, his voice still toneless and impassive as he took a slow, cautious bite of the kamaboko fish cake on his ramen, as though he had never seen something like it before.

"He-he's missing." Sakura replied shakily, and forced herself not to cry. Despite her fear, she continued, as though needing to say these words. "They can't find him or Sasuke-kun anywhere..."

Gaara didn't look up, nor did he look at Sakura. Instead, he continued to chew the fishcake, as though contemplating its flavor. After a moment, he said blandly, "I don't understand."

His words struck a nerve, and irritation flared over her fear. "Didn't you hear me? They're gone! They're gone, and I don't know where they are!" Sakura said, her voice edging on hysterical as she felt the tears coming on.

"I don't understand why Naruto enjoys this so much." Gaara continued, unperturbed, and glanced over at the pink haired girl with an inquisitive look. "Do you?"

Sakura didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or simply look at the redheaded boy with utter confusion. If that was a joke, it wasn't funny. If it wasn't, then Gaara of the Desert was even stranger than she thought.

Finally, anger, anger at everything that was wrong in her life finally broke through her fear and she snapped, "How can you be so damn nonchalant about this! Why the Hell do you want to know where Naruto is! Why do you care!"

Sakura froze up after that, and clapped her mouth shut. _Oh God oh God oh God I'm going to die, he's going to crush me with that sand of his and then I'll never get to see them again-_

"I owe Naruto a very large debt." Gaara said, unaffected at all by Sakura's rant. "He is... he is what I want to be. I want to be like him." His voice reminded her of Naruto- of the raw, relentless determination that the blonde showed at the most surprising times.

Sakura nearly burst out laughing for a brief moment as she imagined a hyperactive, over excitable Gaara of the Desert playing pranks with his sand. But his words stopped her from laughing. Sasuke had told her it was Naruto who defeated Gaara in the end- was that why Gaara respected Naruto so much?

Was it possible that even this bloodthirsty boy could be changed by Naruto's determination?

"And I don't need to worry about Naruto not coming back." Gaara said, idly swallowing a large number of noodles with a bored look.

"Why's that?" Sakura asked quietly, her own ramen forgotten.

"Because Naruto's the kind of person who will always find a way." Gaara finished, and looked at his now emptied bowl. "Perhaps I will have another bowl of ramen, later on."

Sakura managed a small laugh. "Don't be too much like Naruto, now." She warned, her tone light and good natured.

After all, there should only be one Naruto Uzumaki.

---

"Alright! I got him!" Naruto grinned happily, thrusting his fingers forward in a 'V for victory' sign.

Ranma, wiping the blood from his nose, and looked curiously at Naruto for a moment, before walking over to one of the bystanders; an old woman who happened to be holding a wooden bucket of water. "Excuse me, could I borrow this?' he asked politely, and when the woman nodded, perplexed, he thanked her and stood up, walking toward Naruto.

The blonde boy was so deep into his triumphant grin that he failed to notice it went Ranma tossed a bucket of cold water over him.

"Oi! What'd you do that for!" Naruto snapped, his clothes and his hair now soaking wet. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered, glaring at the older boy.

"Hey... you didn't change." Ranma muttered perplexedly, scratching the back of his head.

"Ranma! Don't go dumping buckets over people's heads!" Akane scolded irritably, rolling her eyes as she rushed over to the two boys.

"Just what are you, anyway?" Ranma demanded, ignoring Akane for the moment, staring at Naruto with an impassive look on his face. "What kind of crazy Martial Arts do you do? Martial Arts Shape Changing?"

Naruto blinked and scratched his head in the classic "huh?" pose. "What do you mean?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"You're a martial artist, ain't cha?" Ranma questioned, crossing his arms and now looking even more perplexed than before.

"Nope! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja of the Hidden Leaf!" the blonde said proudly, grinning and pumping his fist into the air.

"Ninja of the Hidden Leaf?" Akane said to herself, confused.

"What the heck's that?" Ranma asked, confused.

Now it was Naruto's turn to be perplexed. "What? You've never heard of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves?"

"Nope." The pig tailed martial artist said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Man... I really am on a different world." Naruto muttered, scratching the back of his straw blonde head of hair.

Ranma wanted to ask Naruto about those "Jutsu"s but before he could, Akane suddenly shrieked, "Oh no! Ranma, we've only got five minutes left of lunch! We've got to hurry!"

"Hey, wait a minu-" Ranma began, wanting to question the younger boy further, but Akane grabbed his ankle and tugged hard, causing him to lose his balance and crash to the ground.

"C'mon Ranma, you already slept through all of first period." Akane scowled, pulling along the semiconscious pig tailed boy.

"Those two are kind of weird..." Naruto muttered, crossing his arms behind his head. After a moment, he suddenly realized he had absolutely no idea where he was.

"Uh oh..."

---

Somewhere, deep in the wild mountains of Japan, another young boy let out a primal scream resulting of a condition that many people experience throughout their lives, though none so frequently as this one...

"I'M LOST AGAIN!"

Trees that had withstood year droughts, fierce storms, and the effects of time, toppled over. Birds soared out of their arboreal heights with irritated chirps, and wildlife scattered.

_Aw great, the Destroyer is back,_ one bird chirped with annoyance, flapping his wings with what amounted to a bird's scowl.

_Let's leave... last time he was like this, he ended up decimating half a forest,_ a female bird replied, flapping her wings and moving in a way that was reminiscent to a human rolling their eyes.

"DAMN IT! WHERE IS TOKYO!"

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique)**- A variation on the Henge no Jutsu technique, it transforms the user into a beautiful- and nude- young woman. This technique was created by Naruto Uzumaki, and only he and Konohamaru use it._

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**- Forbidden ninjutsu that only the highest ranked ninja are supposed to know. The chakra and strength of the user is distributed equally among the number of clones, and each and every one of them has a real, physical body, making it impossible to tell which is the original. Each clone can only take a single hit before disappearing, however. Also, this technique is dangerous because of the division, and because of the great amount of chakra necessary to make it properly effective._

_**Harem no Jutsu-** A combo technique of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Oiroke no Jutsu which only the demented mind of Naruto Uzumaki could create. It creates such a number of beautiful naked women that no pervert can withstand its might. _

I rather enjoyed the Temari/Shikamaru interaction scene, and I'm fairly certain I'll include more. Of course, I'm not saying the two of them will be "paired up", but there will be scenes with the two of them. There are a few other pairings in both worlds that I'm thinking of including, mostly because each of them has their own rather unique storyline to them that would contribute to the overall story.

I loved the Gaara and Sakura interaction scene the most though. Get used to Gaara- you'll be seeing plenty of him. Fun fact- he puts salt in his ramen because according to the trivia, he likes salty food.

And no, I am definitely _not_ pairing Gaara and Sakura up. They'll probably become friends over the course of the story, but nothing more.


	4. Chapter 4 Rising Thunder

"_It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."_

_-Mark Twain_

Chapter 4

Rising Thunder

Standing above the rooftop of Furinkan High was a lone figure, dressed in a formal blue kimono with a black hakama to match, and wielding a wooden blade, a bokken.

"In the world of today, society is depraved and twisted, full of vile knaves and wicked schemers who plot every day to unleash their schemes upon helpless maidens. Who hunger for the flesh of young, nubile girls and who weave a vile web of treachery to ensnare them.

"And in this world, there is one lone defender, a champion of virtue, one final knight who hearkens back to the days of olden yore. Who stands for what is good and right, who, with his mighty blade stands between the innocent maidens and the twisted villains who seek to take them.

"And that defender is I, Tatewaki "Blue Thunder" Kuno, age seventeen." The brown haired young man finished in a solemn tone, eyes closed. In the distance, a peal of thunder rumbled.

"How long was that Nabiki?" one girl asked, giggling as they peeked up at Kuno from the windowsill of the classroom.

Nabiki Tendo looked at her stopwatch. "Five minutes. Pay up people." She said, thrusting her hand out distractedly.

As people forked over their money, many complaints toward "Blue Thunder" were heard.

"Jeez, do you think his ego grows with time?"

"You mean like a fungus?"

"Stands for what is good and right? He's more of a pervert than the rest of us!"

"How does he do that thunder trick, anyway?"

"Probably paid someone to do it for him."

Kuno scowled. "Insolent knaves."

---

It was an unusual companionship, but one that perhaps, just maybe, she needed.

Gaara wasn't quite sure why he was continuing to listen to every word of her stories, nor was he certain of why he needed this information, these memoirs of what a friendship was, and might still be.

Sakura didn't understand why Gaara was paying so much attention to these random anecdotes about Naruto and Sasuke, but she found that it was therapeutic, and, as the conversation went on, her apprehension of the redheaded Sand ninja was fading away (but some part, she suspected, would always remain).

And as she remembered all the times that Naruto and Sasuke revealed their strength, showed their resilience, she began to grow more and more aware of the rift between their power and hers.

Sasuke's comment that she wasn't even as good as Naruto. Her inability to do more than beg him to stay.

Naruto's promise of a lifetime. The way she stood there and just let him take care of things, just like he always did.

They were strong... both of them.

She wanted to be strong too.

And so, she did the only thing she could do.

Gaara walked with her the whole way, still listening to her anecdotes, often posing a question every now and then. He noticed where they were going, but said nothing, and only made a reaction when he nodded, having deigned to stand outside and let her go in alone.

No one questioned her presence, or perhaps they were simply too busy, handling the recovery of the Hidden Leaf with all speed.

Sakura reached the door.

She paused, hand hovering just above the doorknob.

And breathed in.

And opened the door.

The Godaime Hokage looked up at her from the cluttered desk, seemingly unsurprised.

She breathed out.

"I want to become your apprentice."

Tsunade smiled gently, and folded her hands together. "I thought you might."

---

"Geez Akane, ya didn't havta hit me so hard, y'know." Ranma grumbled, rubbing the back of his head in annoyance as he ran along the fence.

"Oh, shut up. We're already late because you had to go chasing after Happosai." Akane shot back, rolling her eyes irritably as she ran alongside him, on the ground. "You should know better than that by now."

"Stupid, uncute maniac," the pig tailed boy muttered under his breath. Akane made a low growl and swung out at him with her bookbag.

Ranma jumped off the fence, sticking out his tongue in response, and landed in the courtyard of the high school. "Missed me, Akane," he began-

"RANMA SAOTOME! PREPARE TO DIE!"

"Aw, man." Ranma complained, forced to perform an acrobatic back flip to avoid a powerful downward slash, landing with easy, practiced grace atop the school gates. "What the Hell do you want now, Kuno?" he asked irritably, rubbing the back of his head.

Tatewaki Kuno raised his wooden blade, eyes narrowed and wrists tensed. "Vile sorceror! Stand your ground and fight!" he roared, swinging the blade down once again, smashing the wall and demolishing the section that Ranma had been standing on.

"Alright, that's it! I'm already late damnit, so get the Hell out of my way!" Ranma snapped, and suddenly Kuno was soaring through the air and into a low orbit via uppercut.

"Oh honestly... is there ever a day when you don't have a fight?" Akane asked rhetorically, already standing at the entrance to the school, tapping her foot impatiently.

"It ain't my fault every jerk in the world has a bone to pick with me." Ranma replied, crossing his arms testily.

---

Not too far away, a young man sneezed.

"Jeez... I hope I'm not coming down with anything." He muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his finger.

An old man and his horse driven cart rolled by. The boy sighed, knowing it was that time again.

"Excuse me... where is Furinkan High School?"

---

Naruto groaned, slapping his forehead, completely at a loss.

"WHERE AM I!" he shouted into the skies.

The skies answered with a body crashing with a resounding, authoritative thud into the pavement in front of him.

Naruto blinked.

The crater groaned. "Curse you... Ranma Saotome..." A hand popped out of the crater, gripping a wooden sword tightly.

"Holy crap! It's alive!" Naruto shouted, pointing and staring openly at the brown haired young man who was pulling himself free from the crater.

"I am not an 'it'!" the sword wielding older boy yelled loudly, waving his weapon about. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen." A confident, sophisticated smirk crossed his face. "However..." he paused, building the dramatic tension.

Naruto felt a small uncomfortable feeling building in his gut.

"You may have heard of me by another name, for I am the rising young star of the Kendo world, the young man who strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies, the man known as the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"

In the distance, thunder rolled and rumbled, filling the soundless void.

Naruto blinked again.

_I don't believe it. I found someone worse than Fuzzy Eyebrows and Super Fuzzy Eyebrows._

---

TenTen sighed, uncrossing her legs and placing her hands on her knees. She was currently watching over Neji, feeling that it was part of team spirit for her to keep company to her gravely injured friend.

Besides, if she didn't, Gai-sensei would find her and _force_ her to do it.

She knew for a fact, since he had _convinced_ Neji to visit Lee in the hospital before.

Needless to say, Neji most certainly was more than a little dangerous during training- one of the reasons why she had suddenly fallen ill for a week after that incident.

"Is he okay?" Rock Lee's voice was lacking its normally exuberant tone, possessing a somber, downcast tone that TenTen found she didn't like. The black bowl cut and green jumpsuit wearing, thick eyebrowed boy was looking rather serious as his big black eyes stared down toward the sleeping Neji.

"He's resting right now." The bun headed girl said quietly. "He got hurt really bad, but they were able to heal him before anything serious happened. He should be waking up anytime soon..."

Lee frowned. "I wish I had found him earlier. I might have been able to help..." he said, a trace of bitter wistfulness in his tone.

"Is something wrong, Lee?" TenTen asked, turning toward her bowl cut brandishing teammate with a careful, studying look. "You seem... sad."

There was terse, quiet pause.

"Naruto and Sasuke never came back." Lee said quietly, and his fist clenched tightly. "I wasn't able to help them... not really."

"But didn't you beat one of those Sound ninja?" TenTen asked, her knowledge of the battle sketchy, considering it was all second hand information, passed through to her by gossip.

Lee shook his head. "No. I couldn't use the Lotus and fight at full strength in my condition... Gaara of the Desert saved me." His voice held no resentment, only respect for the redheaded boy who nearly destroyed his ninja career.

"Gaara?" TenTen blinked, and gaped. "You mean... that guy? But he... he..."

"He hurt me. I know, TenTen." Lee said softly, leaning against the wall. "But he's changed since then."

"I bet Naruto had something to do with it." A shaky, rasping voice said.

"Neji!" TenTen and Lee said in unison, looking toward their now conscious teammate.

The dark haired, white eyed boy struggled to sit up, pushing the pillows up until he was sitting upright. Neither of his teammates moved to help him- not out of apathy, but out of the knowledge that Neji Hyuuga would never allow them to help him do something so simple.

"Naruto... he changes people." Neji continued quietly, nodding in thanks as TenTen offered him a glass of water. After he swallowed half the glass, he spoke again. "There's something that just makes you want to..."

"Believe in him." Lee finished, nodding and smiling slightly as he pushed off against the wall. "He's quite the guy."

They fell silent after that. Each of them allowing themselves a small moment of reflection, quiet, and consideration of the future in contemplative silence.

And then Gai came in.

"Neji! I hope the fires of your youth have not fallen to ash!"

"Gai-sensei!" Lee's spirits quite literally bounced back up to their normal, absurd heights within moments. "Neji has recovered!"

"Excellent work Lee!" Lee's idol and almost exact clone (except for the age difference and the vest) gave the "Nice Guy Pose", his teeth shining brightly.

TenTen idly looked away, used to the "Nice Guy Pose" at this point.

Neji, on the other hand, cursed his incredible Byakugan vision, and fell back onto the bed, feeling the burning in his retinas. He _loathed _the "Nice Guy Pose".

"I am proud of all my students! You have all survived your ordeals with the power of youth!" Gai shouted, smiling brightly and cheerily at all his students.

TenTen blinked. "I had an ordeal?" she said blankly, but her bowl cut wearing teacher was already too far gone.

"Gai-sensei! Perhaps we should bring Neji some gifts, to speed the recovery of his youth!" Lee shouted, pumping his hand into the air energetically.

"An excellent idea Lee! What a great teammate you are!" Gai applauded, and the two of them shined their teeth, reflecting the light off of the other's teeth like mirrors.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

The usual manly sobs and hugging broke out, filling the hospital room with the sounds of Lee and Gai's sounds. TenTen was very, very glad no one was around to see it. She absolutely hated being around when Lee and Gai were bonding.

The stares people gave her made her rather uncomfortable.

Neji looked over at TenTen with an impassive stare. "TenTen?"

The bun haired girl looked at him curiously. "What is it Neji?"

"Get me some more anesthetic. Please."

---

Sasuke opened his eyes, and, without even thinking, looked over to Naruto's bed, which looked like the blonde boy had left in a hurry.

"Where'd that idiot run off to?" the Uchiha prodigy muttered, rolling his eyes as he reached for the water which was beside the meal that someone had placed next to his bedside. As he drank, he gave a slow considering of everything.

He was stuck in some weird place with even weirder people, if Spatula Girl was any indication.

Worse, he was stuck in some weird place with _Naruto_ of all people.

It was bad enough Itachi had killed the clan off. It was worse that he had been alone, with no friends but plenty of people who were just trying to hang around with the "Uchiha genius" or girls trying to date with him.

But being stuck in a place with cross-dressing girls with giant spatulas with Naruto was truly Hell.

And what truly topped it off... he had no idea how to get back.

Back to Kono- no, back to the Hidden Sound. To Orochimaru, and to Power.

Back to his quest for vengeance.

But until he could figure out how exactly he came here, Sasuke understood that going to Orochimaru and killing his brother would have to wait.

Deciding that to dwell on the cruelties of fate any further was pointless angst, Sasuke checked over himself. His left arm still felt pained and stiff, and, with a slight grimace, Sasuke realized that, while having avoided complete chakra exhaustion, he had probably damaged his arm badly.

His body was recovering, and thankfully, the degradation he'd been warned about when using the curse seal Orochimaru placed upon him wasn't taking place.

On the other hand, Naruto was already up and about. In fact...

Now that Sasuke had to reflect upon it, Naruto hadn't ever been injured for very long. Wounds, injuries, they all seemed to be forgotten with rapid speed.

Frowning, Sasuke decided that the matter would have to be investigated... later.

Right now... his bowels were calling him to another quest, toward the bathroom.

---

"Kabuto... where is Sasuke?" the Master of the Hidden Sound and member of the Legendary Sannin did not sound pleased. His face and body were covered in white bandages tightly wrapped, so only a single golden eye was visible as he sat upon his throne, fist supporting his chin.

The small candlelight was dim and wavering in the darkness, but neither occupant of the throne room of the Hidden Sound was uncomfortable in the shadows.

"Orochimaru-sama... forgive me, but we have lost track of him." The silver haired, bespectacled medic ninja replied respectfully, bowing his head deeply. He had little fear of Orochimaru killing him- of all the Hidden Sound, he was perhaps its most valuable member, besides the soon to arrive (hopefully, anyway) Sasuke Uchiha.

Still, Orochimaru was known for inflicting terrible agony upon those who failed him.

"Is it possible that the Hidden Leaf has managed to hide him from us?" Orochimaru wondered out loud.

"Maybe... or perhaps Sasuke merely got lost. We've received reports that there was a massive explosion of chakra in the Valley of the End. Perhaps he has been injured and is currently unable to join up with us." Kabuto replied, keeping his head low.

"I suppose it does not matter at the moment." Orochimaru mused softly, lazily. "However, I want you to continue searching." A dark, malicious hunger flared behind that single golden orb.

Though Kabuto could not see it, even he shivered slightly before the Snake Sannin.

"Sasuke _will _be mine."

---

Kuno smirked, running his free hand through his hair with a confident, arrogant laugh. "I suppose you are awed by my presence. Rest assured, young lad, that I-"

"Do you ever shut up!" Naruto shouted, pointing and staring at the sword wielder with irritation practically visible on his person. "I mean jeez! You're so annoying!"

"Insolent whelp!" Kuno roared furiously, narrowing his eyes. "How dare you speak to your betters in that manner!"

"Do you want to fight!" Naruto roared back, fists tensing up and eyes narrowing with unrestrained fury.

Kuno made a small snort, rolling his eyes. "As if I, Tatewaki Kuno, would ever lower myself to fighting with mere _children._"

"Are you afraid or something?" the blonde shouted, trying to goad the sword wielding older boy into a fight.

This time, Kuno made a louder snort. "I? Tataweaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, afraid of a mere _boy_?" he made a low, derisive laugh. "Do not jest so, for it is in delusion only."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "GOD! You're so annoying!" Naruto roared, and charged, no longer caring about anything other than silencing the older boy's boasts.

Kuno sighed in fake regret, falling into a battle stance with a confident smirk. "Very well then. I tried to be merciful."

A second later, he was eating a fistful of... fist.

Naruto grinned. "Finally." He said happily, just glad that the annoying sounds coming out of "Blue Thunder"'s mouth had finally ceased.

Kuno fell backwards, holding his mouth and wincing. "You... you..." his whole frame was shaking with rage, his eyebrow twitched, and the hand holding the wooden blade tightening until the knuckles were white. "You dare to strike at me, heir to the noble house of Kuno? Very well then, have at you, knave!"

With a roar, he rushed forward, and came down hard with his sword. Naruto barely had time to react, and tried to sidestep the blow, but ended up taking a hard hit to the shoulder with a vicious crack.

His body immediately flared up with a protest in the form of more pain than the blow should have made.

_Damn... guess I haven't healed all the way yet._ Naruto was worried. He had never had trouble feeling better after a fight, and usually recovered within a few hours. Even fights like the one against Neji Hyuuga hadn't hurt him this badly.

Or maybe... maybe it was using that extra power from the Kyubi that was slowing the healing down.

"Have you had enough yet, insolent whelp?" Kuno asked arrogantly, smiling and pointing his blade at Naruto's throat.

_No way am I losing to this guy!_ Naruto thought furiously, eyes narrowing into slits as he ducked the blade and lunged forward, slamming his fist with all his might into Kuno's stomach.

The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High wheezed and staggered backward from the vicious haymaker, not expecting the retaliatory blow.

"Have you had enough yet, you loudmouthed asshole?" Naruto asked mockingly.

If there's one thing about Tatewaki Kuno that made it very easy and very hard for Ranma to beat him, it was his infamous short temper.

"You... DIE!" Kuno roared, and utilized one of his few special techniques- a rapid fire set of jabs so powerful that the air pressure alone can crack stone.

Naruto wasn't aware of the power, nor of the speed of the technique, and so it came as a surprise when all of a sudden he felt a fast series of blows that connected solidly with his torso.

In a moment, the breath was driven solidly from his lungs and he was fairly sure there was a small bit of blood rising into his throat. _That's going to hurt in the morning-_

With a final shout, Kuno swung out in a mighty sweeping motion that struck Naruto's collarbone solidly with a loud crack.

Naruto let out a loud groan of agony, and the blood that had built up in his mouth was flying through the air. He staggered backwards, feeling a small trickle of his blood slipping down his lips as he clutched his chest in pain.

"Now you have experienced the vengeance of heaven. Surrender. I am not an unreasonable man." Kuno said boldly, smirking with a superior look on his face.

"I'm not beaten yet!" Naruto roared in response, and his hands flew together in a series of movements that Kuno's eyes couldn't track.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Kuno gasped, and took a step backwards. "What vile sorcery is this, whelp?" he demanded, staring at the crowd of blondes with apprehension.

The Naruto army, which numbered probably two score and a half, all roared in unison, "SHUT UP!"

They charged, steps and indistinct shouts ringing throughout the street.

Kuno tensed, and swung out in another sweeping blow, taking out two Naruto clones in a single movement. Confidence returning, he swung down, sending a crashing blow into another clone.

"Ha! Mere sorcery cannot defeat the Blue Thunder of Furinkan-" Kuno's boast was cut off as one Naruto delivered a powerful right cross to his jaw.

"FOR THE LAST GODDAMN TIME, SHUT UP!" the blonde roared as Kuno went flying backwards, doing a small twirl in midair so that he was now facing downwards.

"You have not bested me yet, whelp!" Kuno managed, spitting out a bit of blood as he continued in his backwards movement.

Naruto merely grinned.

It was then that Kuno realized that three more Naruto's, coming from three different directions, were sliding toward and under him.

"U!" the Naruto who struck Kuno roared.

"Zu!" a second shouted.

"Ma!" a third chorused.

"Ki!" a fourth answered.

Kuno suddenly felt three kicks connect simultaneously and solidly with his abdomen and he let out a loud groan, rising into the air, helpless. He felt his blade slip from his nerveless fingers, and clatter to the floor, which was steadily moving farther and farther away from him.

Above, a fifth Naruto was already high in the air, reaching to the point where his apex would be just above Kuno's.

The blonde's leg was raised up high, and, the moment that the Blue Thunder was within range, the leg came down with a vicious axe kick to Kuno's back.

"Naruto Rendan!"

With a thunderous crash, Kuno met the pavement once again, this time, for an extended period as he groaned, twitching on the cracked ground he was lying against.

Naruto grinned, and then winced as he felt his collarbone suddenly screaming out in pain. The clones dissipated in puffs of smoke as he began to walk away, holding the base of his neck and making a few grimaces every now and then.

"And I'm still lost..." Naruto complained tiredly, as he continued to walk. "Stupid jerk..."

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Kuno's Technique**- Unnamed since Kuno doesn't really have a name for it. A simple series of rapid jabs whose air pressure can break stone. _

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**- Forbidden ninjutsu that only the highest ranked ninja are supposed to know. The chakra and strength of the user is distributed equally among the number of clones, and each and every one of them has a real, physical body, making it impossible to tell which is the original. Each clone can only take a single hit before disappearing, however. Also, this technique is dangerous because of the division, and because of the great amount of chakra necessary to make it properly effective._

_**Uzumaki Naruto Rendan (Uzumaki Naruto Combo)-** Naruto's first personalized taijutsu technique, utilizing the cloning ability of his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. One Naruto delivers a right cross, sending the opponent backwards. After that, three Naruto's slide under the opponent and kick the opponent into the air. The finishing blow comes from a fifth Naruto coming down on the airborne enemy with an axe kick, sending them crashing to the ground._

Writing a quiet, contemplative Lee... man, that was hard.

Now, Kuno, I believe, is pretty good, but gets distracted easily and is fairly predictable, making it easy for Ranma to beat him. Naruto isn't as fast or as strong as Ranma, nor was he prepared or had the means to distract Kuno, so naturally Kuno could do damage to him.

I haven't been able to write a lot of Sasuke scenes yet- but don't worry, he will get his turn in the sun soon enough.

I liked this chapter. It really got the feel of what I wanted out of the story- humor, without sacrificing action or drama.


	5. Chapter 5 Encounters Of The Unusual Kind

"_For truth is always strange; stranger than fiction."_

_-Lord Byron _

Chapter 5

Encounters of the Unusual Kind

Naruto Uzumaki was in trouble. And he knew it.

"Damn... my neck..." the blonde complained quietly, rubbing his neck and wincing. His vision was starting to blur, his neck was stiff and moving his head even a little sent a jolt of agony through his system, and he was fairly sure the searing pains in his chest weren't helping.

All he really needed was some time to let his unnaturally quick healing take place, but frankly, after the incident with that "Blue Thunder" guy, Naruto was hesitant to just lie down anywhere.

Unfortunately, the spots in his vision were beginning to grow larger and larger, while his breath became shallower and shallower.

Something- the Kyubi, stirred in the back of his mind, but Naruto refused to allow it to awaken this time. There was no need of _that_ power.

"Getting... dizzy..." Naruto murmured quietly. He took another step-

And a fierce, roaring world of pain enveloped him, and everything faded to black.

---

Kakashi was back in the Hokage Tower today, even though everyone, including himself (for the Yondaime had drilled self-awareness into his mind) was very aware of his fragile state.

He notices it, of course. The other jounin all have their teams all well and alive, intact and whole, those teams who had members going out to find _his _team. Kurenai shoots him the odd pitying glance as she goes off, silently to train her genin cell. Asuma is subtle, avoiding Kakashi's cycloptic stare as he hides behind a veil of smoke. Gai refrains from boasting about Lee or Neji in his presence.

He despises the pity, yet welcomes their silent comfort all the same.

"This is your mission." Tsunade's voice is sharp and brittle like broken glass, and, if Kakashi had to guess, he had to say she had been crying only a few hours ago. He won't though.

"There is a band on missing-nin from the Hidden Mist trying to pass through Fire Country and possibly take refuge within Rice Field Country... more specifically, with the Hidden Sound." The Godaime explained, handing over a folder filled with pictures, technique descriptions, and possible paths the missing nin might take.

"You believe Orochimaru is welcoming missing-nin into the Hidden Sound?" Kakashi asked, carefully keeping his voice neutral and stable.

Tsunade nodded, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Orochimaru knows that the Hidden Sound has to grow very fast, and adding a variety of missing-nin to his forces will certainly boost his power. He's very persuasive." The Hokage's voice turned quiet as the grave. "Kakashi. Your mission is to eliminate these missing-nin before they come into contact with the Hidden Sound."

"What about the Hidden Mist hunter-nin?" Kakashi asked, and tried very hard not to remember a fake hunter-nin, a child who died at his hands while protecting a devil. "Won't they get involved?"

The Hokage shook her head, her blonde locks moving to and fro. "The Mizukage has been informed of our intent. I've struck a deal with them- that's why this mission is an assassination mission, and not a capture." She steepled her hands together, leaning forward slightly, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "You are not, under any circumstances, to bring them into Konoha. They cannot be questioned."

"This sounds more like an Anbu mission than something a normal jounin like me should be involved in." Kakashi said lightly, his tone betraying his interest as he moved a hand into his pocket.

"The Anbu are spread thin, Kakashi." Tsunade said thinly, her voice a low warning. "And don't pretend you're a normal jounin, _Copy Ninja_." Her voice had become dangerous and cold, like a sudden, fierce blizzard.

Kakashi remained unaffected. "Alright, Hokage-sama. I'll leave right away." He said briskly, noting that his stay had been too long.

As the Copy Ninja turned to leave, Tsunade called out. "Wait, Kakashi." Her voice sounded dark and unamused. "I had a genin approach me earlier today, asking to become my apprentice. Quite strange, considering she already has a jounin instructor."

_Sakura._ Kakashi let the pang of guilt complete itself in his gut. "Are you saying I have failed my students, Hokage-sama?" he asked airily, but there was a tone of resentment in his voice, like a child being chastised.

"I am saying that perhaps you have followed in the footsteps of the Sandaime." Tsunade replied in a darker, heavier tone. "I loved Naruto like I would my little brother. And now he's gone, along with _your_ prodigy."

Kakashi stiffened at the insult. "So you're saying that I favored Sasuke by trying to give him strength outside of the curse seal? That I failed to give Naruto what he needed to combat Sasuke, so he had to rely on others? That I failed Sakura in the same manner?" his voice was dark as shadows in the night, the same voice that had seen the deaths of many an enemy ninja.

But Tsunade was of the Legendary Sannin, and was not to be intimidated by a man half her age. "I am saying, Kakashi," she said coldly, with eyes narrowed and her entire body tensed as though she expected a fight, "That if Naruto turns up dead with a Chidori inflicted wound, it will be on your conscience."

Kakashi swallowed, and wanted to turn and scream at the Hokage, tell her that she had _no right_ to tell him how badly he screwed up, no business telling him that the three people whom he had allowed himself to become fond of were scattered and hurting.

He took a step outside the door. "Good day, Hokage-sama." The Copy Ninja said quietly, and gave a curt nod.

"Shut the door on your way out." Tsunade said coldly, her tone enough to put out the most powerful Fire Jutsu.

Moments after Kakashi left the room, the pig tailed Hokage scowled, wishing Shizune hadn't hidden away her office stash of sake. "Come on out, Jiraiya. You know as well as I do that you can't hide from me."

A small chuckle welcomed the massive, bear-like form of her fellow Sannin, Jiraiya the Toad Hermit, into the room. His long, spiked white mane, unusual forehead protector, and garb were still the same as ever. The only change was the serious look on his face, noticeable even behind the mask of that same cheerful arrogance.

"You were pretty harsh on him, you know." Jiraiya said lightly, careful to be out of range of Tsunade's mighty fist. "Do you resent old ape face for the same crimes as Kakashi?"

"Shut up." The Godaime replied tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Sensei made a mistake. Kakashi did too. And people like you and me, Naruto, and the Hidden Leaf have to pay for them."

"Perhaps we should have dealt with the problem early on." Jiraiya agreed darkly. If he had resolved to kill Orochimaru in the past, perhaps none of this would have had to come to pass.

"Enough." Tsunade whispered quietly, her voice exhausted, drained and spent. "We need to discuss things we should do, not what's been done." _I've spent far too much time on the past as is._

Jiraiya nodded, crossing his large arms over the other, leaning backwards so that just his shoulder blades were brushing the wall. He seemed to be waiting for her to speak first; something Jiraiya did not do very often.

"Jiraiya..." Tsunade loathed having to ask favors of her perverted old friend. "Would you-"

"Give you a back rub? Take your senses to places they've never been before?" Jiraiya said lecherously, smirking. "Why of course, princess..." he drawled slowly.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched. "Be serious damnit!" she snarled, slamming her fist against the wooden desk. It buckled and crumbled in moments, leaving behind a small storm of dust and a small pile of wreckage.

There was silence in the office as the Godaime stood above what was once her rather expensive and sturdy desk, as well as the scattered papers that were lying about everywhere like the victims of a natural disaster.

Jiraiya laughed nervously, backing up slowly, holding his hands up defensively. "Now, now, calm down Tsunade..." he said placatingly.

"Look what you made me do you IDIOT!" Tsunade roared, and delivered a mighty blow to Jiraiya's cheek, sending the Toad Sannin flying backwards, crashing through the doors of the Hokage's office, and into the far wall with a tumultuous crash.

Passing genin fell to the floor, wondering if an earthquake had hit the building. Others, more used to their Hokage's destructive power, merely sighed, knowing Jiraiya was back in town.

"Shizune." Tsunade said in a clipped, brisk tone as she stepped outside of her office. "When that idiot wakes up, tell him that I've got a favor to ask." As she finished speaking, she stalked off, down the hallway like a furious lioness.

"Where are you going, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked quietly, briefly wondering if she should move Jiraiya to the hospital, and then thought better of it.

Without looking back, Tsunade replied simply, "I need a new desk."

---

Temari was bored. Bored out of her mind in a foreign country, since a lot of people still held a degree of resentment and distrust toward the Hidden Sand, and she was in no mood for heated glares everywhere she went.

However, Gaara had stated that they would stay in the Hidden Leaf for another day or so, and, despite his recent turnaround in attitude, neither Temari nor Kankurou wanted to disagree with their little brother.

Another contribution to her boredom was the fact that the only Leaf genin Temari really felt she could talk to, Shikamaru, was busy for the day.

"I'm bored..."

Temari scowled. Which left her alone with Kankurou, since there was little chance of her trusting her brother not to do anything to provoke a Leaf ninja.

"Bored, bored, bored..."

Her eyebrow twitched. Of course, babysitting her brother increased the chances of Kankurou provoking _her_ into a blind, homicidal frenzy that Gaara would be jealous of.

"Bored- Holy Hell, is that... Gaara? With a _girl?_" Kankurou gasped, and rubbed his eyes, literally unable to believe what his retinas were feeding to his cerebrum. "That _can't_ be right."

Temari did a double take, blinking wildly. There was no way. No way that her anti-social, formerly homicidal and sociopathic little brother was with a girl.

But he was.

Shakily, Kankurou turned towards Temari, eyes wide and quivering with fear. "Sis... before we all die in the apocalypse, I want you to know that I really do love you." He said quietly, seriously.

"We're not going to die, you melodramatic idiot." Temari scowled, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I think it's cute... Gaara got himself a little girlfriend." Suddenly, her redheaded brother seemed more human, more like a boy than a ninja.

"She looks familiar... I think Gaara tried to kill her before." Kankurou said nonchalantly. Temari didn't bat an eye. Gaara tried to kill a lot of people, and usually succeeded unless someone with serious power intervened.

"Yeah... she's that Uzumaki brat's teammate. Sa... Sa something." The puppet wielder continued, struggling to remember the name. Finally, he gave up, and watched along with Temari.

"I can't believe that a girl would willingly talk to Gaara." Kankurou muttered irritably, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, as though somehow offended.

Temari grinned. "You're just jealous that Gaara got a girlfriend before you." She teased, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"Aw, shut up." Kankurou scowled, watching Gaara continue to talk with the pink haired girl. "This has to be a dream. Or a sign of the apocalypse."

They both watched as Gaara continued to talk with the pink haired girl, Kankurou idly muttering prayers to various religions, Temari smiling in a big sister sort of way.

Across the street, someone else spotted the two talking together.

"Oh my God..." Ino Yamanaka whispered softly, eyes wide with indescribable shock, as though Chouji had declared himself on a diet and Shikamaru did an honest day's work. "Sakura..."

_The poor girl's on the rebound and trying to get over Sasuke by going out with **Gaara of the Desert!**_

This kind of news just couldn't stay hidden.

---

Ranma Saotome was bored.

Of course, this was a natural state for him, and many of his peers.

After all, he's in school.

Idly, he tapped his pen against the plain wooden desk in a quick, rapid beat, rolling his eyes. Akane turned her head slightly and glared at him.

He stopped. But it was _not_ because he was afraid of Akane, or anything like that.

Certainly not.

So he tried his hand at thinking about other things. Like that weird "Kage something or other" technique that blonde kid used. It looked pretty impressive, but could it do more than simply make clones?

Ranma felt the subtle thrill of a challenge coming on. And for once, he thought happily, it didn't have the unwelcome companion of someone trying to kill him or marry him.

Of course, that could only mean something worse or more dangerous was on the horizon-

But Ranma Saotome was never considered one of the world's greatest thinkers.

---

Sasuke, unable to leave his hospital bed just yet, did what he had done the last time he had been in a hospital- he brooded and stewed in his own dark thoughts.

His curse seal was a source of insane, incredible power, so much so that it was too dangerous for Sasuke to use continuously. He still remembered the brief flash of some foreign mind, some alien thought pressing against his own will, trying to dominate him.

It had only been a whisper... for now.

_It must have been Orochimaru._ Sasuke thought to himself. Orochimaru, who wanted his Sharingan eyes, and in exchange, would hand over even more power.

He was confident that with the curse seal's power, he could defeat Naruto and come before Orochimaru, and learn once and for all, how to overcome Itachi.

The only variable in this otherwise perfect plan was Naruto's own special power. That red chakra that his Sharingan could not predict, that regenerated a Chidori inflicted wound, that stretched and fought on its own.

It hurt Naruto to use it... but it was no less dangerous than activating the curse seal and risking a loss of identity. So in the end, the fight was still on equal ground.

"Naruto... I will have that power, even if I must eat the Devil's fruit." Sasuke vowed quietly, in the silence of the room. "Neither you, nor our bond of friendship will stop me."

The doctor stepped inside, looking at him concernedly. "Did you say something?" the older man asked.

Sasuke merely shook his head silently, and allowed the doctor to leave the room once again.

His body ached and his left arm was most likely incapacitated for a while longer, but Sasuke didn't care.

As soon as he could, he would seek out and fight Naruto again.

And this time... he would win.

---

The first thing Naruto realized when he awoke was that he was awake.

It's an important fact, really.

The second thing he realized that he was not, in fact, lying somewhere in the street on the cold, unforgiving ground, but instead covered by a gentle, warm blanket on a nice futon.

Quite a pleasant surprise, to be sure.

"Oh, you're awake."

A nice, gentle, motherly- yet young- voice greeting him when he awoke. Even better... and unlikely.

Now Naruto was beginning to wonder if he had ended up dying when he passed out and this was some nice paradise he had ended up in.

Which would have been really pathetic, dying to a guy calling himself "Blue Thunder" and waving around a stick.

Sasuke would _never, ever_ let him live that down.

So to speak, of course.

"Am I dead?" Naruto asked aloud, before he could stop himself.

There was a slight giggle, a definitely feminine giggle. "No, I'm afraid. You're at the Tendo Dojo." The voice explained patiently, and was most likely smiling.

Naruto opened his eyes, and saw a demure, chestnut brown haired young woman smiling down on him, wearing a white apron over a yellow blouse and long pink skirt. She had a motherly air about her, despite her youth.

"I'm Kasumi Tendo. And who might you be?" she asked sweetly, still smiling

"Naruto Uzumaki." The blonde replied, blushing slightly at the attentions of an attractive older woman as he sat up. Nervously, he scratched the back of his spiked blonde hair, laughing awkwardly. "Uh... thanks for helping me out."

"No trouble at all." Kasumi replied quickly, without hesitation.

As he felt a small breeze whisper by, Naruto realized he was only clad in an unfamiliar white shirt and shorts that were so big that they felt almost like pants.

"Did-did you change me?" Naruto asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

Kasumi nodded, and Naruto blushed hotly. No one, especially not a _girl_, had ever undressed and changed his clothes before.

"Where's my jacket and pants?" the blonde asked, hoping that the redness in his cheeks was not visible.

"Your jacket had a hole in it, so I'll have to go out later and patch it up with some more orange fabric. And I've put your pants in the wash. They were very dirty." Kasumi replied, seemingly oblivious to the blonde's embarrassment.

"Would you like anything to eat, or drink?"

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach rumbled, and his throat felt parched and dry, like paper. "Yes please!" he said cheerily.

"Well alright then!" Kasumi said happily. "I'll bring you something right away."

As she left, Naruto let himself have a small grin.

He wasn't dead, but he was certainly in a better place.

---

Sakura grunted with exertion, sweat rolling down her face and drenching her pink hair, her hand coming out in a sweeping motion, moving back through several academy lessons on Taijutsu.

As for the reason why, it was on the Godaime's instructions.

"_Before we even start on the medical jutsu, I want you to go through all the basics, especially Taijutsu. Most people don't expect a kunoichi to be good at Taijutsu- but for what I'm going to teach you, you'll need to be in top shape."_

_Tsunade-sama's face was dead serious as she spoke, as though knowing that she was preparing the young girl to race toward the level of her teammates. _

"_Don't expect to learn any new jutsus from me until I decide you're ready. You've got to crawl before you walk." _

Her leg swung out once, twice, and then she spun, striking out with a backfisted movement.

The training exercise finished, Sakura panted harshly, grabbing a bottle of water from the bench and downing the slightly cool liquid, taking in one rapid gulp after another.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're hard at work, Sakura." Kakashi's voice was cheery as always, and he waved at her. However, his normally ever-present Icha Icha Paradise book was not in his hands.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said, smiling.

"So, the Godaime Tsunade, the kunoichi of the Legendary Sannin has taken you on as an apprentice. I'm very impressed, Sakura." Kakashi said, smiling still as he bent forward to look her in the eyes in his usual manner. He even ruffled her hair a little, scattering the sweat soaked pink locks as he coaxed them to move under his rough, gloved fingers that had seen the deaths of many of the Hidden Leaf's enemies.

Briefly, as his hand retreated, Sakura wondered if he was upset that she had gone to the Hokage and not him for training. "Kakashi-sensei... you're not... mad that I'm training with Tsunade-sama, are you?" she asked hesitantly.

Kakashi shook his head and smiled, and somehow, Sakura could tell it was genuine this time, from how sad and broken it looked, like an unwanted child abandoned in the street. "No, no Sakura. I've already failed in training Sasuke, and Naruto's trained under a Sannin as well. I suppose it's no surprise that you would seek out another sensei as well." He said, radiating false cheer.

"Naruto trained under a Sannin?" Sakura blinked, confused. She didn't want to think about Kakashi-sensei being depressed or sad- he was too strong for that. She needed him to be strong.

So instead she tried to think about who Naruto had trained under. It couldn't have been Orochimaru... and he did seem to know the Godaime awfully well-

"Jiraiya, the Toad Hermit." Kakashi explained, scratching the back of his head to remove a rather persistent itch.

_Jiraiya... Jiraiya..._ Sakura just knew she had heard that name before. He was... one of the Sannin... and...

"Or, as I like to think of him, Jiraiya, the wonderful author of the most superb Icha Icha series!"

Sakura choked and stared at her sensei with complete, mind boggled shock. "Wha-what? Naruto trained with the pervert of all perverts!"

Kakashi seemed to be almost gleeful now, and was probably in a state of mind where other people might be burst into a random jig in the street. "Ah, but Sakura, how could you not love the Icha Icha series. The wonderful plot, the stirring cast, the-"

"THE PERVERSION!" Sakura shouted, frowning down upon her sensei with a particularly nasty scowl.

"Ah, ah. True, but you are still a cute little pupil. I would hardly expect you to understand..." Kakashi said wisely, nodding his head.

Sakura sighed, rubbing her forehead. _Why are all the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf perverts?_ She asked herself, briefly wondering if power corrupted you into a perverted lunatic.

"Ah, well, I'd best be going now, Sakura." Kakashi said cheerily, and turned around, placing one hand in his pocket casually, easily. His other hand was in the air, and swished just once, in a farewell.

"You're going on another mission already?" Sakura asked quietly, her voice a chord of melancholy, and the Copy Ninja gave pause for his last student.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. But I'll be back soon enough, don't you worry. And I'm sure Naruto will bring Sasuke back too." Kakashi assured her gently, and turned his head so that his uncovered eye could look at her.

He was still smiling.

Sakura said nothing, and could only watch as the last remaining member of her team walk away, leaving her behind, once again.

---

And elsewhere in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, trouble of an unusual sort was brewing.

"WHAT! SAKURA-CHAN IS DATING _GAARA OF THE DESERT! _THIS CANNOT BE! I MUST BE THE ONE TO PROTECT HER AND HOLD HER IN THE SPRING OF HER YOUTH!_"_

As TenTen and Neji watched their thickbrowed teammate rush off and out of the hospital room, into the distance, running like a jealous man in love (or, as Neji was inclined to think, a blind idiot running towards a giant flaming wall of doom), they looked at each other.

"Should we go after him?" TenTen asked, concerned.

"We should watch. It might be entertaining." Neji said, and actually smiled a little, lying in his hospital bed. Though he was still sore and weakened from his previous battle, he was finding himself ready to leave and go after Lee, which was surprising, to be sure (considering he'd had a hole punched in his shoulder only a few days ago).

Then again, it was at the thought of his annoyingly loud teammate being beaten to a pulp by Gaara of the Desert. It was natural for even the Hyuuga prodigy to smile at that.

"I mean should we help him? I mean... if Gaara is dating Sakura, then wouldn't that mean that Gaara would be inclined to beat up Lee over her? Or maybe even kill him?" TenTen questioned hesitantly.

Neji simply continued to smile, and, though the weapons kunoichi was sure her eyes deceived her, she thought he actually smiled a little wider, and even showed _teeth._

She decided to play her ace in the hole. "If he ends up in the hospital again, you know Gai-sensei will force you to visit him." TenTen reminded her prodigy of a teammate, who sometimes was as thick as a brick wall.

Hook, line, and sinker. Neji shivered and flinched at the thought, and sighed deeply.

Pity. He really did want to see Lee beaten up.

Neji swung his legs out of bed, feeling a bit unsteady from having been unconscious for so long. The world did a small movement in front of him, and the Hyuuga prodigy blinked to get himself focused.

TenTen looked at him worriedly. "Are you sure you're ready? I mean, you were just healed yesterday. I could go after him alone, you know."

Neji gave her his "I'm-Neji-Hyuuga-And-I'm-A-Genius-So-I'm-Better" look. "TenTen. No offense to your skills, but do you really think you could handle _Gaara of the Desert_ on your own?"

The weapons kunoichi scowled and huffed, looking away, feeling a bit insulted, even though it was true. "And you, someone who just got out of the hospital, can handle him?" she asked tersely.

Neji shrugged. "Who said I was going to?" he said lightly, and pulled himself to his feet.

And promptly fell back down on his ass.

"Right... my skills may not be as great as yours, but at least I can stand up." TenTen drawled scathingly, with a superior grin on her face.

"Just hand me some crutches. I'll limp my way there." Neji replied flatly, refusing to give his female teammate the dignity of a verbal sparring match.

Still smiling with superiority, TenTen nodded, handing him two crutches that were lying next to the bedside. Somehow, the kunoichi thought, someone had figured out that the Hyuuga pride would never allow Neji to be in the hospital for too long.

Neji, gripping the crutches tightly, hauled himself to his feet with a resigned look on his face.

"Alright. Let's go after that idiot."

* * *

Author's Notes

Neji leaving the hospital so soon was an issue I kept moving back and forth on, since there were a lot of stories where they continue to go on about how long Neji and Chouji were in the hospital. In the end, I came to a realization when I was watching the anime scene when Shizune repairs Neji's shoulder, a la Naruto healing the Chidori wound. Aside from the blood loss, I reasoned, he's fine. Chouji might take a little longer, considering Tsunade says she only stopped the cell destruction- not healed it.

I really wanted to include a scene with Team 8, but the only one I can think of now is another hospital bedside scene. And that's already been done in this story, I'm afraid. Don't worry, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba will get their turn, along with Anko and the other jounin.

The other issue I had with this chapter was the severe lack of Naruto and Sasuke, but I suppose this was more of a filler chapter. Don't worry though- the both of them will be back in the spotlight before you know it.


	6. Chapter 6 Changing The Status Quo

_"I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me... but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch."_

_-Ty Cobb _

Chapter 6

Changing The Status Quo

"So, you're one of the boys who ended up in front of my dojo, eh?" Soun Tendo mused, watching the blonde boy devour the food his daughter placed before him without batting an eye.

Mouth full, Naruto only nodded, before swallowing down the large mouthful of rice he had in his mouth. "This is great! Thanks, Kasumi!" he said loudly, grinning genuinely at the brown haired young woman, who rewarded him with a gentle smile.

"I'm glad you like it!" she replied happily, clapping her hands together.

As Naruto set the bowl down, the door opened, and the Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts dragged his blood-loss weakened body into the dining room.

"Oh, hello there grandfather!" Kasumi greeted, the only woman that was immune to Happosai's lechery (for reasons unknown, but many thought it was simply one of the Rules TM in Nerima: Nothing _ever_ happens to Kasumi).

Happosai dragged himself in, opened one eye, and saw a familiar visage.

Naruto blinked.

Simultaneously, they pointed at one another and yelled, "YOU!"

---

"So Gaara," Temari began, since if she let Kankurou do this, her younger brother might end up murdering them, "Who was that nice young lady I saw you with earlier?" Inwardly, she winced as she realized she sounded like a doddering mother.

Gaara of the Desert gave his older sister a stare, where most teenage boys might flush. "Sakura. She's one of Naruto's precious people." He said flatly. "She's the one he defeated me to save."

That's where she remembered the pink haired girl from, Temari recalled. As for the 'precious people' comment... she wasn't quite sure how to interpret that. Was he respecting a friend's claim on a girl? Or was he merely stating, in Gaara-ese, that this Sakura was Naruto's friend?

"Well... maybe in time, she can become your precious person." Temari said diplomatically, giving Kankurou a careful "Don't-Crack-A-Joke-Or-You-Are-Dead-Yesterday" glare.

Wisely, the puppet user acquiesced to his sister's unspoken request.

Gaara looked contemplative for a moment. "Naruto is not around to protect her at the moment. I will take his place, until he returns." He decided, his face impassive.

Temari and Kankurou gaped. Gaara fighting for a reason other than bloodlust was strange. Gaara having a friend was even stranger.

Gaara deciding to protect someone?

Absolutely ridiculous.

"GAARA!"

It was about to go above and beyond ridiculous.

---

Hiashi Hyuuga would not say he was worried, per se, about his eldest daughter, because his daughter, despite all her flaws and quiet nature, she is strong. He heard of her standing up to Neji, her cousin, the person the entire Hyuuga clan is forced to recognize as the best they've produced in generations.

He heard of her, bleeding on the floor, her heart flailing and weakening from a near lethal blow from the boy who was supposed to be her protector, from a boy who is, in blood, her half brother.

And despite himself, despite his supposed rejection of his eldest, despite his apparent apathy toward his children, Hiashi Hyuuga had nearly chosen to activate the curse seal on Neji's forehead and kill him for doing such a thing- only the knowledge that his brother's sole remaining legacy was in this boy stayed his hand.

But he is concerned for Hinata. If she is not at the hospital, visiting her injured teammate, she is spending all her time with her team, the only support she feels she has.

Hiashi is perplexed as to why his daughter would cry over a _jinchuriki_.

He acknowledges that the boy is not the Kyubi no Youma, and is in all actuality, a great asset to the Hidden Leaf.

Like many Leaf ninja, the boy's victory over the Hyuuga's prodigy, the _best_ that the _strongest clan_ could offer, by utilizing a demon's chakra, spoke volumes about what he could do for the Leaf.

The Yondaime had (though most likely to assuage fears about the boy) promised them a powerful weapon in due time, an ace in the hole should war ever break out.

Somewhat welcome disappointment was quick to come when the brat showed himself to be the absolute worst student in the academy, never paying attention in class and showing none of the raw power they had feared. A waste, but at least the boy was useless.

At least he had been.

Really, they should have been trying to kill him after that fight, not applauding the boy. If the boy could tap into the Kyubi's power at this age, then he could become a serious threat later on.

Yet, the idea of the power of the demon that had nearly decimated the Hidden Leaf now working for them? The irony alone was too great for many to pass up.

But, the idea that his daughter held _affections_ for the boy was simply something Hiashi could not understand. And so, he stayed his hand once again, and simply watched as his daughter drifted away from him further.

Never before had Hiashi Hyuuga imagined he'd feel so weak.

---

Soun Tendo was worried.

He worried a lot, but that was beside the point. He especially worried about anything involving his master and the general populace, which was the point at the moment.

"What are you doing here!"

"Me! I live here! What are YOU doing here!"

"You! Who the Hell is crazy enough to put up with YOU!"

"Shut up you little whippersnapper!"

"Do you want to fight again, old man!"

"That wasn't fair! You cheated!"

"Nyah Nyah!"

Happosai growled dangerously, and Soun recognized the look as being one that promised unbearable pain for the receiver.

Naruto stuck his tongue out.

Happosai made an inarticulate growl and, much to Soun's surprise (normally it was Happosai driving his opponent insane, not the other way around), actually tried to tackle the blonde boy.

Naruto leapt backwards, easily avoiding the attempt, grinning in a way that would probably drive a saint to homicide. "Missed me!"

Happosai, proving once more that he was definitely no saint, lunged again.

Soun Tendo worried even more.

Perhaps a vacation would be good.

CRASH

... Or a change of address.

---

Gaara of the Desert turned around, and raised a hairless eyebrow at the righteously furious Rock Lee.

"Gaara! Though I bear no grudge toward you, I must challenge your decision to date the lovely flower of Konoha, Sakura!" Lee declared dramatically.

Gaara blinked. He actually blinked in surprise.

Temari would have made a squealing noise at the idea of her brother being forced into a situation not unlike the romance novels that she hid in under her bed.

Kankurou wondered when his little psychopath of a brother suddenly had a soap opera life a la Temari's supposedly hidden romance novels.

Gaara made no move or sound, and stared at the spandex clad taijutsu specialist with something akin to dumbfounded, except it was Gaara-style.

"Let us fight now, Gaara of the Desert, and decide who is truly worthy of Sakura's affections!" Lee said, moving into his usual fighting stance.

Gaara still made no moves. He was still in the process of figuring out exactly what the Hell was going on.

"Wait! Lee! Don't do it!" another voice called out, out of breath and female.

Temari glanced at the Leaf kunoichi who was running toward them. "Hey... you're that pushover from the Chuunin exams." She said, smirking.

TenTen scowled. "Go to Hell, you blonde bimbo." She retorted caustically, before turning toward her teammate. "Lee! He's going to kill you!"

"Worry not, TenTen!" Lee replied, still in his dramatic voice. "The power of love shall see me through this battle!" he did the standard Nice Guy pose, his teeth shining in the sunlight.

Kankurou gagged.

Temari elbowed him in the gut, hard.

And a staggering, breathless, on crutches Neji Hyuuga came onto the scene. "Oh. You're not dead." He stated, staring at Lee. From the sound of his voice, he was quite disappointed.

If Lee noted the disappointment, he ignored it and replied in a frightening imitation of Gai's interactions with Kakashi, "Neji! I am touched that you left the hospital to come to my aid, but you are still wounded, my eternal rival!" he shouted, staring at the Hyuuga prodigy with some concern.

Neji scowled, hating being called Lee's eternal anything. "I did no such thing. I came so I could watch."

TenTen elbowed him.

Neji relented. "Fine... I came so I wouldn't have to experience Gai-sensei forcing me to come visit you in the hospital again. Never. Again." He said firmly, and if not for the fact that he was Hyuuga, he would have shuddered in terror.

It was just that traumatizing.

"Okay... can someone tell me what's going on?" Kankurou asked, generally completely weirded out by the fact that his little brother had a love life, and what's more, was in a love triangle with a boy he had maimed earlier over a girl he tried to kill a little later.

Lee scowled, and narrowed his eyes. "Do not play games! Gaara, I demand to know why you have chosen Sakura as your love slave!"

Everyone choked.

Yes, even Gaara.

"The Hell?" Gaara said slowly, deciding that imitation of his older brother was the only way to respond to this situation.

Before Lee could speak again, and further make of an ass of himself, TenTen stepped in, hoping to avoid another "Lee-Getting-His-Bones-Crushed-By-Sand" incident.

"Aren't you dating Sakura? Sakura Haruno, from Team Seven?" the weapon's kunoichi asked, nonplused.

"No." Gaara deadpanned.

Lee stopped, a comprehending look and a corresponding flush of embarrassment spreading across his face. "Oh..."

Gaara's face only betrayed a small hint of annoyed fury as the telltale sound of sand moving became apparent.

Lee grinned sheepishly.

"Uh... Sorry?"

---

Shikamaru Nara, most people would say, was a little bit sexist. Even Shikamaru would probably admit it, if he felt like answering.

It wasn't that he hated women (he did eventually want to start a family), or thought kunoichi were weaker than shinobi. Far from it. He considered kunoichi to be equals to shinobi, and in some fields (assassination, infiltration, and the like) were probably superior to the male ninja.

No, he simply hated the fact that the women in his life tended to nag and annoy and generally cut into time that could be spent lounging about and doing nothing.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru! Are you listening!" Ino stamped her foot impatiently, growling at the back of her throat.

"No." Shikamaru responded, seeing no sense in lying. He was currently on his back, watching the clouds from his favorite hilltop, far from where most of the hustle and bustle of the Hidden Leaf would be.

He got a kick in the ribs as a reward for his honesty.

"That hurt." He grumbled, rolling onto his side, pressing his face deeper into the grass as the blades dug into his face. He really, really wished Ino hadn't figured out (or more likely, bribed Chouji or his father to tell her) where his favorite hilltop was.

"Don't you care! Your fellow Leaf ninja is dating the Sand's resident psycho!" Ino whined, and stamped her foot a few more times for good measure.

Shikamaru made a grunt.

Ino kicked him again.

Shikamaru made a noise that might have been another grunt of pain, and closed his eyes, his face screwed up in a determined look to not respond.

Ino sighed, acknowledging the futility of this battle, and sat down next to her teammate, planting herself on the hill. After a moment, she spoke. "I thought you were supposed to be in a meeting with the Hokage today."

"She's out getting a new desk." Shikamaru replied gruffly, eyes still closed. "And I _was_ hoping to use this time to catch up on some sleep."

Ino glanced at the chuunin questioningly, before shaking her head in defeat. The Godaime Hokage was more than a little different from the Sandaime, that was for sure.

Silence passed for a few more moments, with Shikamaru pretending to sleep, and Ino simply sitting there.

"Did... did you go see Chouji today?" she asked quietly. Annoying Chouji and Shikamaru might be, but she had known them since childhood.

"Hn." Shikamaru replied, which translated to "I'm still too guilty to see my best friend."

"No one blames you, you know." Ino murmured, her fingers finding a small wildflower growing on the hill. They twined around the stem, idly caressing the petals.

Shikamaru was silent.

"I'm sure Chouji would never hold it against you." Ino continued quietly, plucking the wildflower with idle gentleness. It wasn't nearly as good as the flowers she had, but it had a certain allure to it all the same.

Shikamaru remained silent, still.

"Say something already, damn it!" Ino snarled, tossing the flower aside and glaring at Shikamaru's back with vehement force.

"Something." Shikamaru said tonelessly.

With a furious growl, Ino stood up sharply, hands on her hips as she willed her spearing glare to incinerate the spiky haired boy.

"Fine then! Just wallow in your misery, you jerk!" Ino growled, and stomped off without another word.

Shikamaru opened his eyes, and glanced back, catching the golden hair that glinted in the sun as she walked away. Once he was sure she was out of hearing distance, he spoke in a quiet voice devoid of his usual gruffness.

"Thanks."

---

Hinata Hyuuga gasped harshly as she slammed into the dirt, falling over herself, before coming to a stop. Unfortunately, her usual thick, fur lined coat wasn't present, causing her arms to scrape against the dirt.

"Hinata. Are you able to continue?" Shino Aburame's voice was as calm and clipped as ever, but she could still detect the small trace of concern in his voice. He stood in front of her, hands in his coat.

"Fine... I'm fine, Shino." Hinata said breathlessly, staggering to her feet. She pulled herself back into the Gentle Fist stance. "Continue."

Shino seemed to hesitated for a moment, before making a small, quiet grunt. Without another word, he raised his arms up, as though he were sleepwalking. Almost immediately, a buzzing noise filled Team Eight's training area and a barrage of insects hurtled out of Shino's sleeves.

Hinata ducked and wove as best she could, struggling to avoid the small, but potent creatures, but in the end, her exhaustion and previous falls compounded and she was knocked down once more as the bugs swarmed her.

"I think it may be good to take a rest, Hinata." Shino said quietly, his voice brooking no argument.

Hinata, ceding defeat for the moment, pulled herself back up, and limped back toward the log at the edges of the clearing.

Shino sat down next to her, looking impassive. After a moment, he spoke. "Hinata. Perhaps you are pushing yourself too hard." He glanced at her. "Naruto's disappearance has you worried, I gather?"

Hinata flushed, and not just from the heat. "Erm... well... yes." She admitted meekly. "Naruto-kun is strong... but... no one can find him."

Shino was silent for a while. Finally, he spoke again, staring out into the clearing. "In the Aburame clan... we have catalogued many different kinds of bugs." He began quietly. "There is one such bug, Bikochu, who, went it is first born, will memorize the first thing it smells. It will be able to track this scent, no matter how faint, anywhere."

Hinata gasped. "Then... then we could..." she began slowly, and Shino nodded.

"We can use the Bikochu to find Naruto. However, the time of year when they lay eggs is not for a few months yet. When Kurenai-sensei returns, we will discuss it with her." Shino said serenely.

"... thank you, Shino." Hinata whispered quietly, looking down at the ground. When he was silent, she glanced at him again. Though she lacked the emotion reading ability that Hyuuga such as Neji possessed, she could still read her teammate's moods.

"Are you bothered, Shino?" Hinata asked softly, looking at him curiously.

Shino made no answer.

"... Kiba is in the hospital... and Neji-niisan is as well." Hinata continued, kicking up a small patch of dirt. "I heard that Chouji Akamichi is still under careful watch..."

"If I..." Shino began quietly, but seemed to hesitate for a moment. "If I had gone with them... I could have made a difference. I could have helped them." There was a trace of wistful anger in his tone.

"I'm sure Shikamaru didn't forget you on purpose. Maybe he didn't have enough time to go looking for you." Hinata said reassuringly.

"Still... it doesn't change the fact that I was the only shinobi left out of this mission." Shino said quietly, his tone iron hard. If he had been another shinobi, like Kiba or Naruto, he probably would have been hitting something.

Hinata didn't know what she could do anymore. Words were never her strong suit. But she remembered Naruto, and how his words wrought a change in Neji, bringing the long buried goodness in his heart to light.

"Maybe... maybe you shouldn't concentrate on what you could have done, and what you will do, Shino." Hinata murmured softly. "That's what I think Naruto would say."

Shino looked at her for a moment, and though she couldn't see it through his coat, Hinata was sure he was smiling. "You have gotten very strong, Hinata." He said quietly, admiringly. "Very strong."

---

"We're home!" Akane shouted, kicking off her shoes, glad the school day had finished with minimal trouble.

Ranma gave a loud whoop, obviously pleased as well, kicking off his own shoes and tossing his school bag aside hapzardly. "Where's the food! I'm starvin'!"

"Oh for God's sake Ranma, don't just throw your stuff everywhere." Akane chided, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Ranma grunted in response, tearing off toward the kitchen.

"Boys. Always thinking with their stomachs." Akane grumbled, crossing her arms in a huff as she followed him, albeit much slower than her pigtailed companion.

"Gah! What the heck happened here!" Ranma's startled voice rang out.

Akane frowned and sped up a bit, opening the screen door with a loud bang. "What's going on- OH MY GOD!"

The dining room was a mess.

The table was turned over, the T.V. was knocked down, and Soun Tendo was crying in a corner in a way a grown man really shouldn't.

"What the Hell happened?" Ranma muttered, scratching the back of his forehead in mild distress.

If it had been anywhere else, he might have been concerned.

But this was Nerima, where doors were more often than not an optional entrance, and silly laws like "assault and battery" and "breaking and entering" did not exist or were ignored by the proper authorities.

A scene like this in Nerima was as commonplace as the sun rising.

Kasumi strode in, and was as unaffected as a rock. "Welcome home you two." She said placidly, as though her dining room was not in shambles and her father was not sobbing like a little girl (no offense to little girls).

"Uh... Kasumi... what happened?" Akane asked, half afraid of the answer.

"Oh, well, I found this boy named Naruto unconscious in the street and brought him home. It appears he and grandfather Happosai know each other, and started fighting." Kasumi said, as though reporting the weather.

"And where are they now?" Ranma questioned, looking around curiously.

"Outside." Kasumi said serenely. "I'll have a snack prepared soon, so please tell them to come back in, okay?"

"Er... Right." Ranma replied, nodding absently as he ran out into the yard, with Akane dogging his heels.

The voices rang out then, clear as day.

"Come back here you little punk!"

"Just try and catch me, ya old geezer!"

Ranma's lips quirked into a grin. Anyone who could drive the old pervert insane was in his good books, that was for sure. He spotted the blonde boy from earlier jumping backwards, grinning a fox's grin.

Happosai bounded in a second later, obviously infuriated as he lunged for the boy.

"Ranma, what's-" Akane began, before she watched in obvious fascination as the blonde continued to dart away from Happosai with ease, landing on a tree branch without a hint of slipping.

They both watched as Naruto bounded away again, heading, seemingly haphazardly, into the koi pond in the yard, a place Ranma had fallen into many a time.

Jaws dropped.

"He's... he's standing on water." Ranma breathed, unbelievingly.

"That's... impossible." Akane whispered breathlessly.

Happosai didn't seem to notice the minor miracle, and lunged again.

Naruto grinned a little wider, and sidestepped on the water.

Happosai went, eyes wide and headfirst into the pond with a loud splash.

Naruto laughed loudly, still grinning. "Gotcha, old man." He taunted, as the troll-like octogenarian pulled himself onto the rocks.

"No fair! You cheated!" Happosai whined.

"Naruto! Grandfather! The snacks are ready!" Kasumi's voice called out.

The two stopped their activities, glanced at each other, and made an unspoken truce.

Ranma and Akane were still standing, speechless, as Naruto and Happosai bounded past them, each of them yelling "Snack time!"

---

Snack time seemed to cool the tensions between Naruto and Happosai for a while, at least long enough for Kasumi to promise that dinner would be ready within the next hour or two, and asking them politely to not fight while she prepared the food.

Naruto complied.

Happosai begrudgingly agreed on the promise that he got an extra share.

Ranma, deciding that anyone who pissed off Happosai this much was a good sort of person, started a conversation with the blonde boy.

"So, what was that technique you pulled on the old man earlier?" Ranma asked casually.

Naruto grinned boyishly. "That was my Harem no Jutsu! It's never been beaten, not even once!" he declared proudly.

"I can see why." Akane muttered dryly.

"That's a really weird technique." Ranma said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, like you should talk about weird, Ranma." Akane said sarcastically. "Cross-dressing weirdo."

"Cross-dressing?" Naruto said loudly, staring at the pigtailed boy.

"I am not a cross-dresser! It's a curse, damn it!" Ranma insisted angrily, glaring at the girl across the table.

"Sure Ranma. You have a curse, but you don't have to dress in drag!" Akane snapped waspishly.

"Are you two siblings or something?" Naruto asked curiously, glancing from one to the other. "You're always together, but you're always fighting."

Both boy and girl flushed immediately, and began shouting.

"No!"

"No way!"

Akane huffed, crossing her arms and looking pointedly away from Ranma. "He just freeloads at my house, that's all." She said testily.

"Wait... you two aren't related, but you live together?" Naruto said slowly, staring at the two of them. "So are you two like..." he put his index finger and thumb together. When they stared at him, bewildered, he extrapolated, waving his hand in emphasis, "You know... together?"

Once again, the two of them blushed furiously and started yelling.

"No!"

"Me! With that uncute tomboy!"

"Whose uncute!"

"You are!"

Naruto stared as the two older teens both stood up, arguing loudly and ignoring everything else around them. "Uh..." he decided that leaving the room was not a retreat so much as a necessity.

As he left, he nearly ran into a brown haired young woman who was about to enter.

The girl looked at him for a moment, before looking toward the closed door and heard the sounds of Ranma and Akane still arguing. "Ranma and Akane are fighting?" she said dryly.

"Uh... yeah. Who're you?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"Nabiki. I'm Akane's older sister... one of them, anyway. And you must be one of those boys who ended up in front of my house." Nabiki said, her voice confident, assured, and completely dominating the conversation.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, unnerved that so many people seemed to know about him and he had never head of them.

Then again, a lot of people (Uchiha Itachi, for example) knew a lot about him, and he had only met them a few times and knew even less about them.

"Well, you'd better go out for a bit. Those two can go on for hours..." Nabiki sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Why are they together all the time, if they fight so much?" Naruto asked, before he could stop himself.

Nabiki looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping her lip with her index finger. "Well, I suppose it's probably because they're fiancees and sort of secretly in love with each other." She stated, plain as day.

Naruto did a double take.

"Wait... they're _fiancees_!"

---

Sakura fell to her knees, panting harshly. She felt exhausted and drained and filthy, covered in sweat, her muscles ached and she really needed a drink of water, but she felt damn _good_ nonetheless.

The wooden training pole in front of her, her opponent for the past hour or so, showed little sign of damage, but Sakura didn't care. If training today showed no progress, she'd come back tomorrow, and the day after that, and...

Her lips quirked slightly into a grin. She was starting to think like Rock Lee.

"That was pretty good. Better than I expected of a girl whose taijutsu was originally just below average, anyway."

Sakura, startled, turned and was rather surprised to see the Godaime Hokage standing behind her, a smile playing on her lips.

"H-Hokage-sama!" the pink haired kunoichi stuttered, bowing her head respectfully.

"If you're going to apprentice for me, call me master or sensei." Tsunade said gruffly, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her more than ample chest. Her eyes softened after a moment as she watched Sakura's breathing start to even out.

"You really want to make a difference, don't you?" Sakura didn't answer, only looking down in response. "You're tired of watching the two of them grow up and away from you."

"Yes." The girl whispered softly.

Tsunade smiled. "Excellent. Meet me at the Hokage Tower tomorrow, ten o'clock. Ask for Shizune. She'll show you where you need to go."

Sakura looked up, startled. After a moment, she smiled back.

"Thank you... thank you so much."

Tsunade smiled a little longer, before letting it fall away. "Get some rest. You'll need it." She said briskly, and turned away without another word.

---

"Yeah, they are." Nabiki said calmly, well used to people yelling loudly in front of her. When you ran a private betting ring at Furinkan High, you tended to hear people yelling about things a lot, and usually it involved more tears and pitiful begging.

"But... but..." Naruto struggled for words, shaking his head from side to side. "They hate each other!"

"It's an arranged one. My daddy and his daddy decided it." Nabiki explained calmly.

Naruto, at last, was at a loss for words. "I... I'm going to go see if Kasumi needs any help." He said lamely, regardless of the fact that his own cooking skills were terrible.

Nabiki merely gave him a nod, and without a word, swept out of the room and up the stairs.

Naruto found himself standing in the hallway for a moment.

"ARGH! You're such a jerk Ranma!"

The sound of flesh hitting hard objects rang out.

Naruto ran into the kitchen, not daring to look back.

---

Naruto yawned, smacking his lips noisily as he pulled himself up from the spare futon Kasumi provided him. By the time dinner had been over last night, it had grown very dark, and Naruto remembered he still had no idea where the clinic he had been staying was.

"_Well then, you can just spend the night here!"_ Kasumi had declared, and no one protested (well, Happosai had, but they just ignored him). _"I'll take you to Doctor Tofu's in the morning when I go to run errands, okay?"_

As if summoned by his remembrance, Kasumi walked in, smiling gently. "Good morning, Naruto." She greeted warmly.

"Good morning, Kasumi!" Naruto said cheerfully, smiling brightly back at her.

"Could you do me a favor after you've eaten breakfast, Naruto?" Kasumi asked.

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Sure! I can do it before I eat, actually!"

Kasumi smiled wider. "Thank you. You see, Ranma forgot his lunch when they left a few minutes ago, and Akane left behind her math book. Do you think you could bring those two things to them? I'll give you directions to the school, of course."

Naruto nodded again, grinning still. "No problem!"

---

Ranma scowled, sulking on the wall behind Akane. She had been... less than agreeable throughout dinner, and was still mad at him, it seemed, from the way she skulked and occasionally sent venomous glares over her shoulder his way.

"How long are you going to hold a grudge, Akane?" the pigtailed boy asked sullenly, scowling still as he looked away.

"I'm not talking to you." Akane replied airily, her tone fit for an Arctic winter.

Before Ranma could retort and possibly make things worse (as he usually saw fit to do), they arrived at Furinkan High.

And found one makeshift mummy who had a very familiar head of hair and facial structure standing in their way.

"Kuno?" Ranma chortled, grinning madly, his quarrels with Akane momentarily forgotten. "What the heck happened to you?"

"Shut up." The wannabe samurai scowled underneath his bandages, which covered his body from the waist all the way up to around his jaw.

"I didn't hit you that hard." Ranma grinned wider, rubbing the back of his head. "Or maybe my strength's increased again..."

"Ego inflation warning." Akane coughed, rolling her eyes as she did so. Ranma shot her a dirty look.

Kuno pulled himself to his full height, which was not very imposing, seeing as how he was still swathed in bandages. "It was not you, vile sorceror, who inflicted these wounds upon my noble body." He said coolly, "But another. A blonde brat who shall soon know that the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High is not so easily bested."

The usual thunder background noise rumbled.

Ranma paused for a second. "Hey... you wouldn't happen to be talking about-"

"Ranma! Akane! Hey, wait up!"

Akane raised an eyebrow and turned around, surprised to see an orange blur racing toward the school, before leaping over the gates to land on the grassy lawn. "Naruto! What are you doing here?" she asked, startled.

"You forgot this!" Naruto shouted, tossing her a large textbook, which she caught, with some difficulty.

"My math book! Oh, I almost forgot I left it on the desk! Thank you so much!" Akane said happily, smiling widely.

Behind the, Kuno shook with inarticulate rage.

Looking bored, Naruto tossed Ranma a bento box wrapped tightly in plastic. "Here's your lunch, Ranma. Kasumi said you'd probably rather have this than fighting for food in the cafeteria." He said casually, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Erm... thanks." Ranma said feebly.

"YOU!" Kuno's voice roared out over the schoolyard.

Naruto turned, arms still crossed behind his head. After a moment, he chortled and pointed toward Kuno, grinning madly. "Hey! It's you! That 'Blue Rain' guy from yesterday!"

"You insolent brat, I'm going to crush you!" Kuno roared, raising his bokken-

And whimpered feebly as he toppled over, groaning. "Once... I... recover from my injuries." He murmured, and his head collapsed into the dirt.

Ranma gave Naruto an appraising look. Akane simply stared.

All around the school, teenagers peeked out at their classroom toward the blonde boy standing in the schoolyard, staring with wide eyes.

They were used to powerful Martial Artists running around beating each other up. Kuno came in with bandages every other week or so.

But they'd never seen a twelve year old kid who was shorter than most eight year olds leave a boy five years older in bandages before.

Nabiki watched from her second story classroom with mild interest.

Akane approached the blonde slowly, looking bewildered. "Hey... is it true? You really managed to beat up Kuno?" she asked slowly, knowing that Kuno, blustering buffoon that he was, was still quite skilled with his bokken.

Naruto grinned widely, and his mood changed from incredibly amused to boastful in an instant. "Oh yeah. He was okay, but he was no match for Uzumaki-"

"NARUTO!"

The blonde barely registered the sound of shuriken flying before he jumped up and away, into a nearby tree branch.

"Get down!" Ranma heard the noise too, and the tingling danger sense on the back of his neck gave him his instinctive decision- to tackle Akane in time to avoid the deadly sharp objects flying overhead.

Of course, Akane was less than pleased, since Ranma's tackle left his face dangerously close to her bosom.

"GET OFF ME!" she snarled, pushing her fiancee off of her with a violent movement.

"Well, excuse me for trying to keep you from getting killed!" Ranma snapped, brushing himself off. "I could have let those things hit you!"

Before Akane could reply, Naruto shouted, "Sasuke! What the Hell are you doing!"

The dark haired boy standing at the gates smiled thinly, wearing both Naruto's shuriken holster and kunai pouch on his person. His clothing had been thoughtfully repaired by Doctor Tofu, and his body felt fit enough to fight once more.

And so, when he sensed the blonde running past the clinic, he knew what he had to do. "Fight me!" Sasuke snarled, and hurled a kunai at the blonde.

Akane gasped. Ranma's eyes narrowed.

Naruto leapt out of the branch, letting the kunai impale itself upon the bark with a distinctive thunk. His eyes narrowed. "Fine then! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, four more Naruto's appeared in midair, all of them looking deeply annoyed as they fell around the Uchiha prodigy.

Sasuke smirked, and his eyes changed to the bloody red of the Sharingan.

With a sweeping kick, two of the Naruto clones disappeared in a puff of smoke and crack of sound. A third Naruto tried to attack Sasuke from the rear, but the Uchiha merely grabbed the blonde's arm and hurled him forward, to crash into a tree.

As the third clone disappeared in a burst of white smoke, Sasuke ducked, avoiding the fourth Naruto's punch with ease. The other remaining Naruto came at him with a low kick, which Sasuke blocked, shoving the blonde away to concentrate on the other.

The fourth Naruto clone received a resounding kick to the chest, and was promptly knocked into a wall with a brutal crunch, upon which it burst into smoke.

Sasuke smirked again as he turned toward the last, and the real, Naruto. "Was that it, dead last?" he asked arrogantly, "I know you can fight better than that."

"What the Hell is wrong with you, you bastard!" Naruto shouted, fists clenched, teeth grinding against one another.

"We were in the middle of a battle before we arrived, remember?" Sasuke reminded him, elevating a single regal eyebrow. "Or have you forgotten?" as he finished, he shifted into his fighting stance.

Naruto growled, and his knuckles went white, practically bulging out of his fists. "Fine. I do remember that we have some unfinished business." He snarled dangerously. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

This time, a score and a half of Naruto clones filled the schoolyard.

At this point, no one payed any attention, not even the teachers, when the bell for first period rang.

"I guess I'm going to have to beat some sense into you!" the crowd of blondes roared.

Sasuke smirked.

With a single, united cry of fury, the Naruto clones charged the dark haired boy, who only smirked wider.

The black haired boy's arms crossed in front of his face. _Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!_

The charging Naruto's eyes widened as a barrage of fist sized fireballs burst out of Sasuke's mouth as his arms swung away, slamming into the advancing wave of blondes.

More than a few eyebrows raised at _that _particular technique.

Ranma watched with awe and a little bit of envy as Sasuke ducked one of the remaining Naruto clone's high sweeping kick, grabbing the blonde and tossing him into three other clones, destroying all four in one go. Despite the blonde's aggression and tenacity, it was obvious that the dark haired boy had the advantage.

Naruto too, seemed to notice, and knew that the matured Sharingan Sasuke was utilizing was the cause. Still, it was far too early to give up, and Naruto leapt upwards as the last of his clones were demolished in bursts of smoke.

"Bunshin Taiatari!" another Naruto clone was created just above him, and hurled itself forward in a burst of chakra, hoping to take the other shinobi off guard.

Sasuke had seen this technique during Naruto's fight with Gaara, however, and sidestepped the clone's attack. As the Naruto clone entered terminal range, Sasuke punched him in the face.

The real Naruto, having been revealed, was unable to move, since he was still up in midair.

Sasuke smirked, and his hands moved into a set of seals that Naruto recognized, ending in the tiger seal.

"Crap!" Naruto's eyes widened and he crossed his arms in front of his head, knowing he couldn't dodge and had no jutsu to counter.

Sasuke took a deep breath. _Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!_

He exhaled, and a single, massive inferno rocketed out of the Uchiha prodigy's mouth, washing over Naruto's body in a wave of blazing heat.

Naruto fell backwards and out of the fireball, his hair singed and a few burns on his arms and jacket (_Damn it, Kasumi just washed this too!)_, mildly disoriented. Which was why he was completely unprepared when Sasuke rushed forward, and, with a little help from the Curse Seal on his neck, delivered a powerful blow to Naruto's stomach.

Naruto wheezed and felt a bit of blood rising into and then out of his mouth as his body bent around Sasuke's fist, before being propelled backwards, straight through the wall surrounding the schoolyard with a resounding crash.

As the dust cleared, Naruto wasn't moving.

Akane shoved at Ranma's back. "Do something!" she whispered harshly, when he turned to look at her.

"That kid shoots fire out of his mouth!" Ranma whispered back, equally harsh. "And you know how I feel about interrupting fights!"

"Just do it! Kasumi's taken a liking to Naruto, and do you want to see her upset?" Akane said quickly, narrowing her eyes.

Ranma shook his head rapidly. Kasumi never, not even once, snapped or lashed out at anyone, unlike Akane, whose violent moods were commonplace. However, when she was displeased, she had a way of being intimidating that was far worse than anything Akane could dish out.

So, as Sasuke took a single step towards Naruto, smirking all the while, he spoke.

"Hey." Sasuke stiffened. "I don't like to interfere in a fight, but Naruto happens to be staying at the dojo for awhile." Ranma said casually, moving to stand between Sasuke and Naruto.

"I can't just let you beat up on him." The older boy smiled, but there was a dangerous glint to it.

Sasuke made a "che" noise, and scowled. "Fine then."

Ranma's metallic blue eyes met Sasuke's Sharingan crimson.

The Heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts smiled a little wider as he crouched into his usual fighting stance.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**- Forbidden ninjutsu that only the highest ranked ninja are supposed to know. The chakra and strength of the user is distributed equally among the number of clones, and each and every one of them has a real, physical body, making it impossible to tell which is the original. Each clone can only take a single hit before disappearing, however. Also, this technique is dangerous because of the division, and because of the great amount of chakra necessary to make it properly effective._

_**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire Style- Art of the Phoenix Flower, the Touch-Me-Not)- **A burst of multiple, smaller fireballs sent at the opponent. _

_**Bunshin Taiatari (Clone Body Blow)**- Naruto creates another Kage Bunshin just above himself, which dives at the opponent with a burst of chakra. _

_**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**- The user uses up a large amount of chakra, gathered in their chest with a deep breath, and exhales out a massive fireball. Can be controlled into a flamethrower using one's hands. An Uchiha family speciality. _

Note: All Katon techniques, since they involve using the mouth, are never actually said out loud, but I'll be putting them in italics since Sasuke usually thinks the name of the attack.

Alright, I know some of you are really being annoyed by the constant switching between worlds, especially last chapter. But I have my reasons.

The first being, if I didn't have filler in the Naruto world, this story would seem unbearably slow and boring for the next... oh, I'd say probably ten chapters. The real plot takes a while to set up, and in the meantime, please endure. I promise it'll be worth it when I pull it together.

Secondly, the switching is really part of the story. It's not just about Naruto and Sasuke- it's about what their _absence_ does in the Naruto world that's part of the story.

I will try to smooth out the flow, but the switching is a necessary evil- sorry.

Minor Out of Character moments from Gaara, but really... "love slave?" I think he deserves that moment.

I forgot to address this earlier, but one reviewer commented on it- I am using the Anime!Nabiki, simply because I like her much better than her manga counterpart.

Hinata and Shino's discussion is a modification of some of the anime filler- I may use more of the filler episodes for plotlines later on in the story, but for now, this is definitely one I'll be using.

Sasuke vs Ranma! Sasuke vs Ranma! You just know this is going to be good.


	7. Chapter 7 Misdirection

"_Chaos would suit me just fine."_

_-Yuber, "Suikoden III"_

Chapter 7

Misdirection

Naruto groaned. "Sasuke... you bastard..." he murmured, pulling himself up from the wreckage of what had once been the wall of Furinkan high.

"Don't move." Akane said quietly, kneeling next to him.

"Tell that to the bastard who punched me through a wall." Naruto shot back, trying to get to his feet.

Akane decided that making sure the blonde didn't die was better than manners.

Naruto groaned as Akane pushed him back down rather forcefully. "Ranma's taking over. Look, you were hurt yesterday. And you just got punched through a stone wall!" she shouted, and stepped on his chest lightly with one foot, making sure not to accidentally show Naruto her unmentionables.

"Not so loud... wait..." Naruto paused in his complaints, catching the first part of the young woman's words. "WHAT?"

His eyes shot toward the schoolyard.

---

Sharingan crimson glared.

Metallic blue glared right back.

Sasuke spat on the ground, and charged forward, footsteps ringing across the schoolyard.

Ranma made a "tch" noise at the amateurish maneuver, sidestepped, pulling his arm backwards and bending at the elbow.

Sasuke smirked, ducking his head below Ranma's fist effortlessly. The older boy's eyes widened as a fist crashed into his solar plexus.

The student of Anything Goes Martial Arts rocked back on his heels, and his eyes narrowed. Ranma's leg came in a wide sweeping kick toward the other boy's side.

The Uchiha grunted as he deflected the kick, and, using his Sharingan, correctly predicted the older boy's next movement, sweeping a right hook through the air where he would be.

Ranma's eyes widened as the fist crashed into his jaw with a vicious crack. _Did he just predict my move?_

Furious at the hit, Ranma recovered quickly, regaining his balance and swinging again.

Sharingan served Sasuke again, and he turned his head aside, letting Ranma's fist miss his cheek by inches.

Once again, the Anything Goes Heir's eyes were wide with shock as the Uchiha's knee connected solidly with his gut, driving the breath from his lungs and sending a brief wave of pain over his senses.

Ranma took the momentum of the attack and went with it, pushing off the ground to land a safe distance away, wiping a bit of spittle from his lip that had been driven out with his air. _No doubt about it,_ he thought grimly, _that kid is reading my movements with those weird eyes of his._

The explanation for the advantage the raven haired boy had possessed against Naruto was clear now. Neither of them looked like close combat experts- but then again, they had special moves to compensate.

Sasuke crouched low, and kicked off, using chakra to give himself extra momentum.

Ranma gave a low snarl. He wasn't about to be defeated, and definitely not at his own high school.

Crimson energy, born from that confident certainty, began to gather around the older boy's hands, brightly fierce and visible to the naked eye.

Sasuke's Sharingan saw it before it happened, the swirling of chakra energy into the palms of his opponent, but he couldn't understand what was about to happen.

Ranma smirked. "Moko Takabisha!"

A blast of energy tore through the air, and the unexpected attack caught Sasuke off guard, the Moko Takabisha slamming into his shoulder with impressive force.

The Uchiha winced as he was literally blasted backwards, crashing into the pavement with a vicious thud, wheezing as the breath was driven out of his body, his elbows scraping against the ground.

"Can't predict that, can you?" Ranma asked darkly, smirking. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and the martial artist smirked wider. "Yeah, I figured out your trick. Pretty sneaky."

Sasuke made a "che" noise, pulling himself up slowly, brushing his shorts off. "Don't get cocky. My Sharingan can do more than predict." Slowly, like a cancer, the fiery strands of the Curse Seal spread, covering half of the pale boy's face in its wicked power.

Ranma's eyes widened.

Sasuke smirked wider. "And don't think that my eyes are the only ace I'm holding." His hands flashed in a series of seals.

_Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!_

Ranma grunted as he kicked off into the air, dodging the wave of fireballs that Sasuke spewed out of his mouth.

A second later, a slight breeze that drifted against his body, causing Ranma's eyes to widen in shock.

After another second, a fist crashed into his stomach, and the martial artist gave a low wheeze as Sasuke's Curse Seal enhanced fist delivered a crushing amount of force.

Now it was Ranma's turn to be hurtled backwards, crashing into the pavement with a hard crunch, rolling with the blow to lessen the impact. He coughed, tasting a bit of blood at the back of his throat.

"Ranma!" Akane shouted desperately, involuntarily pressing her foot harder into Naruto's chest.

Naruto made a low whimper. "Akane... not so hard..." he whined, but the blue haired girl didn't hear him, too focused on her fiancee's predicament.

Ranma pulled himself back up to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Well. This is getting interesting." He said grimly, fists clenching. And just a few minutes ago, Akane being mad at him was his biggest concern.

Sasuke smirked, and suddenly crossed the distance between himself and the older boy in the blink of an eye, appearing in mid air, leg upraised.

Ranma crossed his arms to block, just as the Uchiha's leg crashed into his arms, sending him careening backwards, barely holding himself upright under the force of the blow as his heels rocked back.

Even as Ranma pulled his arms back as he regained his balance, Sasuke was already at terminal range, appearing just in front of the older boy, fist raised, his whole body moving to put its weight behind the blow.

The martial artist winced as the younger boy's fist crashed into his jaw with devastating force, knocking Ranma down, rolling across the paved schoolyard and onto the grassy lawn.

Ranma pulled himself up.

And he was_ pissed_.

Sasuke appeared in front of him, fist raised once again to deliver yet another punishing blow.

_Not this time you son of a bitch,_ Ranma thought angrily, bringing his own fist to bear in the one technique he was sure those eyes couldn't track.

"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Sasuke's Sharingan barely caught the movement of the fist coming towards him before he felt the impact of one, then two, then suddenly he lost count as blow after blow rained down upon his mid section, driving the breath from his body.

Ranma's eyes narrowed, pulling his arm back a little farther before delivering the last punch, sending Sasuke flying backwards to land on the opposite side of the school's grassy lawn with a hard thump.

He panted slightly, the exertion of having to put so much speed and power into the Chestnut Fist draining him extensively.

Sasuke glared with his Sharingan eyes, letting the Curse Seal markings fade away, not wanting to risk damaging his body. _What was that just now? The speed of his fist increased impossibly- I couldn't even keep up with these eyes. _The Uchiha was angry, and a little bit afraid. Naruto's impossibly fast movements before were easy to track- that last attack of the older boy was too fast for Sharingan.

Sasuke spat on the ground, a bit of blood mixing with his spit from the punches. He didn't want to be hit like that again- his body was tiring and the injuries from his battle with Naruto, while not lethal or dangerous, were draining his body nonetheless.

Noticing Ranma's panting, sweating face, the Uchiha made his decision. _I'll wear him down from a distance, and finish him when he tires. _

Smirking, Sasuke moved his hands in the set of seals for a Grand Fireball-

When a voice broke the tension like thunder. "RANMA SAOTOME PREPARE TO DIE!"

Ranma groaned and leapt backwards, just in time to avoid-

A red bamboo umbrella, that smashed upon the ground as though it were a hammer.

"Ryoga! What did I do!" Ranma demanded, glaring at the newcomer with annoyance.

The young man looked about the same age as Ranma. His dark yellow, long sleeved shirt had beige cuffs and a beige lining around his neck. His dark pants had a sort of white crisscrossing netting around the ankles, and on his black haired head he wore a yellow, black spotted bandana. On his back was a traveling pack, obviously well used.

The newcomer narrowed his earth brown eyes, and bared his fangs (both Naruto and Sasuke seemed surprised by that little quirk, but no one else seemed to notice).

"Ranma! How dare you fight someone else when it is I, Ryoga Hibki, who will put you in your grave!" the fanged boy snarled, pointing his umbrella at Ranma as though it were a sword.

Sasuke made a low, annoyed sound. "Oi. We were in the middle of something." He snarled, glaring with his crimson eyes at the older boy.

Ryoga glared back, meeting the Sharingan's glare with defiance in his own brown eyes. "Hey, back off! Ranma's mine!" he shouted, now pointing the umbrella at Sasuke.

Ranma stared. He felt like he was a piece of property to be fought over...

Which, come to think of it, was how he felt most of the time anyway.

Akane, idly, glanced at her watch.

And screamed.

"OH MY GOD! RANMA, WE'RE SO LATE!"

And before the martial artists or Sasuke could protest, Ranma was grabbed by the wrist bodily and literally dragged off to class before he could get a word in.

Of course, Akane's fears would be assuaged once she realized everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the fight, including the teachers.

However, her true motive had been accomplished, as tensions seemed to diffuse with her interference, leaving a bewildered Ryoga, an annoyed Sasuke, and Naruto, who simply stared at the whole mess unblinkingly.

As Sasuke watched, Naruto made a low cough, diverting the Uchiha's attention back to his original target.

Naruto sensed the sudden killing intent rising off of his teammate and raised his hands defensively. "Damn it, just hold on!" he snarled. "We don't even know how we got here! We should at least hold off until we get back!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and his mouth set itself in a thin line. The blonde was right, much as he hated to admit it. "Fine." He spat, glaring at the blonde as his Sharingan faded away, returning his eyes to their normal obsidian. "But don't think this changes anything."

The message was clear, as much as Naruto didn't want to accept it.

_You're not taking me back to the Leaf._

Naruto's own eyes narrowed.

"Fine."

_But don't expect me to give up._

---

Apprehension filled Sakura's heart as she walked slowly into the Hokage Tower, trying to look as calm as possible, lest she betray the inner hesitation in herself.

_I'm going to train under the Legendary Sannin's kunoichi. I'm going to be stronger, _she repeated constantly, trying to use it as a confidence boost.

There was a black haired woman sitting at a desk, idly scratching off something on a piece of paper.

"Um... Excuse me... are you Shizune?" Sakura asked quietly.

The older woman looked up, and smiled gently. "Yes. And you must be Sakura Haruno. Follow me." She stood up, motioning for another woman to take her spot.

The pink haired girl followed willingly, a step behind Shizune.

After a moment, Shizune spoke. "You know, you're very lucky. Tsunade-sama hasn't taken on an apprentice in a very long time."

"Re-really?" Sakura said quietly, privately amazed that a legend like the Godaime would even bother with a kunoichi like her. "Who was the last one?"

Shizune smiled. "Me."

Sakura's step faltered for a moment, but soon she regained her balance. "What... what was the training like?" she asked shyly.

Shizune smiled a little wider, gentler. "I think yours may be different than my own. I apprenticed to Tsunade-sama for medical training. I don't posses the same combat skills that she does."

"Combat skills?" Sakura asked, bewildered.

The medic nin just kept smiling. "You'll see. Here we are." She said, stopping in front of a door. "Tsunada-sama will be waiting for you in here most days."

Sakura looked at Shizune, and then at the door.

Shizune chuckled slightly, patting the girl on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid, Sakura."

Swallowing, the pink haired girl took a determined step forward, and opened the door.

---

"Kabuto." The Snake Sannin hissed quietly. His face was still wrapped in bandages, much to his own annoyance. It would take time before this body would be able take on his appearance once again.

The silver haired spymaster knelt, waiting for his master to speak again.

"Sasuke has not come." Orochimaru murmured, and there was a dangerous river of fury boiling beneath his placid tone.

"Shall I dispatch teams to search for him?" Kabuto asked politely.

Orochimaru paused, and shook his head after a moment. "I want you to gather information, Kabuto. Tap every connection you possess, and follow every lead. I want every rock overturned, every idea pursued. Is that understood?"

Kabuto understood, both the order and the reason why.

The Sound, for all its incredibly talented ninja, was still much smaller than the Leaf. The loss of the Sound Five hadn't helped this problem any as well. While the ranks were being replenished as new missing nin arrived, the problem remained.

"It shall be done, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto bowed, and exited the room.

There was work to be done.

---

The room Sakura entered was obviously a private lounge area for the Hokage- there were a forest green couch in front of a table, and farther back was a larger table with a cloth wrapped bundle on top. Against every wall was a bookshelf.

The Godaime Hokage was waiting on one of the couches, lounging about with a cup of sake in her hand, despite the time of day. "Come in, come in, we don't have all day." The blonde said, motioning with her free hand.

Sakura nodded, shutting the door and hurrying to stand in front of the Hokage.

"Don't look so stiff." Tsunade murmured, sipping her rice wine slowly. Sakura relaxed slightly, but was still tense.

"Now then, first, I need to make some things clear." Her large brown eyes seemed to pierce through the young girl. "This is going to be hard work. From now on, report to the Hokage Tower every day. You have to follow my instructions carefully and without question, and until I say you can, never try any medical jutsu without my supervision. Doing so could get you killed."

She took another sip from her cup. "There will be days when I'll be too busy to train you personally. On those days, I'll leave instructions with Shizune on what you will do."

Pausing, the Godaime set her sake down slowly. "Before we start, I want to ask you something. Why do you want me to train you?"

Sakura paused, exhaling slowly as her fist clenched tightly. "I... I can't keep watching their backs anymore. I was useless, not even able to stop Sasuke-kun. I'm only ever able to be a burden to my friends."

She looked up at the Godaime, her emerald eyes glistening. "I don't want that anymore! I want to be stronger! I don't ever want to feel as helpless and lost as I do now!"

Tsunade smiled.

"Good answer."

---

Kakashi sighed, crouched high up in the shadowy branches of a tree. It hadn't taken him long to find out where the missing nin from the Hidden Mist were, thanks to a few preliminary reports and some question and answer processes with local villages.

It seemed they were taking a mostly forested route, doing their best to stay as far away from any Leaf patrols as much as possible.

However, Kakashi knew the terrain much better than the missing nin, and had quickly tracked them down, a few days away from making it into Rice Country.

At the moment, there were two young chuunin acting as rear guards for the group, trailing some distance behind the others, wielding long wooden staves. Neither one of them looked to be paying much attention to their surroundings as they laughed and joked- a fatal mistake.

Two more chuunin, an older male and female, were walking up ahead, seemingly more alert than the two rear guards. At the head of the group was a fifth figure swathed entirely in a black cloak- age, rank, and sex were completely unknown.

The one in the black cloak was a nagging concern, but Kakashi pushed it aside. They weren't far from the border to Rice Country, and if he waited, it was possible they'd detect his presence. Still, engaging them now might be dangerous- there was a small brook that was within range of water jutsu.

Kakashi pondered on how long he should wait.

It turned out that he had waited too long.

The two chuunin rear guards suddenly dissipated in a puff of smoke.

_Bunshin Jutsu!_ Kakashi cursed, hearing the sounds of the real rear guard chuunin charging up at him with their wooden staves, bringing them down to strike.

The Copy Ninja blocked both attacks simultaneously, crossing his arms and grasping both staves in his hands.

The Hidden Mist missing nin's eyes widened.

Kakashi pulled, yanking both of the wooden staves brutally out of his opponent's hands. In a single movement, he uncrossed his arms and smashed the weapons into his enemy's faces with a brutal crunch.

They toppled out of the air, to land on the ground with a sickening thud.

The blank look in their eyes made it clear they were dead.

Kakashi felt a small bit of regret before he tossed the staves away, leaping out of the tree in time to avoid a barrage of senbon needles, thrown by the female chuunin.

The male chuunin's hands flashed in a series of seals. "Suiton: Suikodon no Jutsu!" the Hidden Mist missing nin shouted, and a burst of powerfully propelled water rocketed out of the brook.

The technique smashed into Kakashi- who transformed into a log in a puff of smoke.

"Replacement technique!" the female cursed, before she paused in shock, slumping downwards in a spray of blood as Kakashi finished swiping his kunai across her throat.

The last chuunin's face was burning red, and he looked absolutely murderous. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" he roared, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Kakashi frowned. The man wasn't too dangerous- what worried him was that the cloaked figure hadn't made a single move the entire battle.

There was no more time to dwell on that as the chuunin began a set of seals. Before he could complete them, however, there was a sudden spike of pain in his chest and he looked down to see the kunai sticking out of it, as well as the Copy Ninja's arm holding the weapon.

"Yuki-sama," the chuunin breathed harshly, blood pouring out his mouth as he stared pleadingly at the cloaked figure. "Please, forgive us..."

The man slumped over, dead.

The cloaked figure stood still, even after all that.

Kakashi wiped his kunai against his vest slowly, staring at the figure.

After a moment, the cloaked one took off the hood, revealing the face of a young man at least half a decade younger than Kakashi. His hair were raven dark, and his eyes were a cold, obsidian black to match. The features were somewhat familiar to Kakashi, a feminine quality to the aristocratic face.

"I've killed your teammates." Kakashi murmured, waiting to see what the younger man would do.

The young man shook his head, and smiled emotionlessly, without any depth at all. "They were not my friends. They were my retainers, Sharingan Kakashi."

Kakashi wasn't surprised the man knew who he was. "That chuunin called you Yuki. From the sounds of it, you're not like the others." He said evenly.

Yuki shook his head, still smiling without feeling. "No, I'm not. I suppose you can say I'm... different." As he finished speaking, the Mist missing nin removed an ornate dagger from within his cloak- the handle was made of leather, the hilt decorated in some shape that was too indistinct for Kakashi to see.

"I am Yuki Arashi, Copy Ninja, last survivor of my clan." The young man said quietly. "These ninja around me were the last ninja loyal to my clan."

Kakashi heard a few things about the Arashi- mostly that they were masters of water jutsu in the same way that the Uchiha had specialized in fire, only to a greater degree. They had, like most Hidden Mist Clans, been mostly wiped out during the Bloodline Purges.

In fact, the Arashi's amazing abilities with water sounded like a boy from a mission to the Wave, not too long ago.

"Tell me something... what are the chances that you had a young boy in your clan by the name of Haku?" Kakashi asked quietly. He had gotten the name from an oddly morose Naruto, after the mission to Wave Country.

Yuki's face seemed taken aback for a moment, before returning to its cold impassivity. "I did hear a rumor back in the Mist about a bastard child who was lost..." he paused, considering the question, before making a thoughtful face. "So, it appears that the rumor that there were others of my clan alive,was true after all."

"Not anymore." Kakashi said softly. "I killed him."

Yuki's face didn't change. "So I heard." He nodded impassively. "I also heard you were the one to kill Momochi Zabuza of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." The young man shifted his stance, holding his dagger like a sword, pointing downwards at an angle. "Which is why I'm going to honor you with the powers that made my clan feared."

Kakashi removed the forehead protector covering his Sharingan. "I'm touched." He said mockingly, crouching low, readying his kunai.

Almost immediately, the Copy Ninja felt the temperature begin to drop, the air becoming thicker, harder to breathe in. Almost unbelievably, small flakes of snow began to fall, even though daylight shone bright and fierce.

"This is my Bloodline Limit's true force." Yuki said quietly, holding his stance.

"Did you know that there is water in the air we breathe, Kakashi?" the Leaf jounin didn't answer, but the younger man didn't seem to care. "My mastery over water is so great, I can even control that water in that atmosphere."

The dagger the Mist missing nin was holding began to glow an otherworldly white, stretching forwards, into the shape of a katana's blade. The distinct sound of water freezing over was audible as the blade came to life.

His eyes seemed to glow against that ethereal, pure white luminescence. "This is my favorite technique, Sharingan Kakashi. My Koori no Yaiba, sword of ice."

The ice sword's luminescence faded away, save for a few wisps of misty ivory that wrapped around the blade. It was hard to tell what was colder- the blade, or the eyes of its wielder.

"And now, you die."

---

"The technique I'm going to show you is one of the most advanced medical jutsu there is." Tsunade began, her tone serious as she met Sakura's eyes unflinchingly. "I don't expect you to be able to master it for a while, but all medical ninjutsu is very advanced to begin with."

She motioned Sakura over to the large table at the back of the room. When the girl was close, the Hokage pulled off the cloth, revealing a large, brown scaled fish swimming inside of a tank. Without a word, the Godaime grabbed the fish in a blur of motion, pulling it out, onto a large scroll with numerous markings written in various patterns.

The fish made a few helpless movements, struggling to breath.

Sakura wrinkled her nose at the smell. Tsunade didn't seem affected at all.

"Watch what I do." The Godaime said quietly, placing her palms over the fish. "Shosen Jutsu!" her hand began to glow a bright, emerald green, and suddenly, audibly, the fish gasped.

Sakura's eyes widened._ She's keeping the fish alive on _land _with that technique!_

Tsunade released the jutsu. "Now, the first thing you need to do is focus your chakra into your hand."

"Like the tree climbing exercise?" Sakura asked intelligently.

The Hokage nodded. "Yes. After that, you focus the chakra outward, into the injury, much like you would do with your legs in battle." She paused, and glanced at her new apprentice with an unreadable look. "However, the amount of chakra required for this is much too great for you at the moment. We'll need to work on that." Tsunade pursed her lips, and Sakura felt ashamed.

The Godaime sighed. "It's not your fault. If anything, Kakashi should have been trying harder to work on that deficiency." Sakura looked down at her feet. Tsunade felt her lip curl upwards, ever so slightly. "However, I want you to try this technique anyway. Get a feel for it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You... do you think I can do it, Tsunada-sama?"

The Hokage nodded. "From what I heard from Kakashi, your chakra control is practically jounin level. You might not have enough chakra to heal more than a paper cut, but the more you use this technique, the better your chakra reserves will be."

Sakura nodded, feeling a bit of pride that her chakra control was so high, and even more proud that people like Kakashi-sensei and even the Hokage had heard of it.

Tsunade stepped backwards, motioning for Sakura to try.

The pink haired kunoichi placed her palms over the fish. _Come on... focus the chakra into your hands... and then outward, into the fish..._

"Shosen Jutsu!"

She felt sweat roll down the side of her face, and her body began to shake with the effort.

Sakura felt a bit of desperation. She did not want to mess up on her first day of training- what if the Godaime decided that she wasn't worth the effort?

Naruto wouldn't give up. The thought came to her almost randomly, but she understood it with complete certainty. He hadn't given up on the goodness in Sasuke, hadn't given up on her even when she hadn't acknowledged him. He was out there, somewhere, still fighting to bring Sasuke back and keep his promise, no matter what the cost.

Her eyes narrowed, and a determined spark drew strength from that idea.

If Naruto was fighting with all his heart and soul for her, she would make certain she was worthy of that effort.

Tsunade smiled, sensing the inner strength that this girl was exuding.

Sakura's palm began to glow a faint emerald green.

"Stop." Tsunade said quietly, and Sakura released the jutsu, panting, gasping for air. "That was very good for a first try."

_Very good was an understatement_, the legendary medic thought to herself. _She grasped the idea almost instantaneously. She has real potential._

At first, the Godaime had simply taken the girl on as a whim, as an idea that, with the rest of Team Seven already so influenced by the Sannin, perhaps it was fate that she have this girl. It had been a mixture of pity and sympathy that she had taken the girl on.

But now... now she was starting to see that there was something truly special about Sakura Haruno, and that, given proper cultivation, would blossom the girl into a legend of her own.

Tsunade banished the thoughts for the moment, and motioned for Sakura to follow her again, as she started toward the door. "Come." She ordered. "We're going outside for a while."

---

Kakashi leapt away, just in time to avoid the swing of Yuki's Koori no Yaiba. As he did so, though, he felt a sudden, fierce chill pass over his body, as though a blizzard had struck him.

_What was that-_

The Copy Ninja had no time to think as Yuki moved again, equaling his speed, coming down with a hard slash downward.

Kakashi dodged to one side, noting that the ground where he had been had frozen over from the attack. With a grim look, he hurled his kunai, aiming for the missing nin's head.

Yuki disappeared, moving rapidly, holding his Koori no Yaiba to one side, prepared to slice once again.

Once again, the Copy Ninja leapt away, this time sending a barrage of shuriken for a counterattack.

Yuki's eyes narrowed dangerously as he dodged the shuriken, his free hand moving into a one handed seal. "Sensatsu Suisho!" seemingly out of nowhere, hundreds of needles formed out of ice appeared, and shot toward the Copy Ninja.

Kakashi wasn't worried, however, having seen the technique before. He kicked off, high into the air, just as Sasuke had done against Haku (he refused to think about the boy any farther, though), letting the needles crash down upon empty space.

Yuki charged again, swinging his ice sword downwards. Kakashi narrowly avoided the blow, but, as he did so, felt that same brutal coldness sweep over his bodily. Only by sheer instinct was the Copy Ninja able to put some distance between himself and his opponent before the cold became too much.

As Kakashi stared at the frozen weapon, understanding came upon him. "Your weapon's name isn't just for show. It really is a sword of ice, and any contact or even coming close to it is hazardous." He said slowly, without a question in his voice.

Yuki stared, though there seemed to be some dark amusement in his midnight eyes. "You really are a genius, aren't you, Kakashi?" he said rhetorically, bringing the blade to bear. "But it doesn't matter. My sword has never been bested."

Kakashi smiled grimly, underneath his mask. "Well, if that's the case... I'll finish this now." His hands moved through a pattern of seals he created himself, before his left hand gripped his right hand at the wrist.

Yuki's eyes narrowed as blue chakra surrounded Kakashi's hand and the sound of a thousand birds chirping began to fill the forest like an otherworldly chorus.

Kakashi smiled grimly. "Since you have shown me your best technique, I'll honor you with my own original technique then." The chirping sounds increased.

"Chidori!"

In a flash, he had crossed the distance separating himself from his enemy, hand radiating loose bolts of chakra, destroying the ground it passed over as the chirping sounds continued.

Yuki's eyes remained impassive.

Kakashi, entering terminal range, slammed the Chidori into the younger man's chest.

---

The Godaime led Sakura out to a large training field not too far away from the Hokage Tower. The area, unlike Team Seven's, was near barren, and consisted mostly of dirt and a few wooden training poles at the far end of the training ground.

"Sakura. Medical ninja's top priority should always be keeping the other members of the team alive." Tsunade lectured calmly, placing her hands on her hips. "Attacking is something a medical ninja should consider a secondary priority. Why do you think that is?"

Sakura thought hard for a moment, before coming up with an answer that was literally taken from a textbook. "Because medical ninja are support first and foremost. Their priority should be medical support, not attacking."

Tsunade nearly snorted, remembering that particular passage from the Academy's section on medical ninja. She made a mental note to get that changed.

"Wrong!" she snapped.

Sakura flinched, hoping she hadn't offended the Godaime.

Tsunade's eyes softened, and she sighed, looking downwards. "Attacking is secondary because evasion is a medical ninja's top priority. We, and yes, that means you will be a medical ninja, Sakura, are not focused toward combat. But more importantly, think about this." The Hokage's mouth was set in a thin line, and her eyes seemed to drift back into the past.

"If you were the medical ninja on your team, and you were to die, who would be there to save the lives of your team?"

Sakura looked downwards. "I understand, Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage's lip curled upwards again. "Good. Now, I am going to attack you with full force. You must evade my attacks to the best of your ability."

Sakura's eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly. She wanted to protest, she really did. She had heard of Tsunade's legendary strength- she'd be killed!

But she remembered the Hokage's words. _Don't question._

She crouched down. "I'm ready, Tsunade-sama."

Despite herself, the Godaime smiled at the girl's determination, and shrugged off her green coat, letting it fall to the ground. "Very well then."

In a blur, Tsunade charged forward, fist upraised for a brutal downward blow.

Sakura forced down her panic, keeping her calm as she kicked off using chakra, putting some distance between herself and the Hokage.

"Not fast enough!" Tsunade said harshly, even as her fist slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash of dust and debris, turning the ground into a massive crater that ended just in front of Sakura.

The pink haired kunoichi's eyes widened and she kicked off again, not wanting to fall into the crater.

Once again, the Hokage lunged upward, fist raised again for the same movement.

After five minutes of dodging and jumping away from the Hokage's ridiculously overpowered attacks, Sakura understood that there was no way she'd be able to keep this up any longer- her chakra reserves had reached their limit and now she was barely running on adrenaline.

Her fears came to a head when the last, far too close attack from the Godaime toppled her over with the sheer force that the Hokage struck the ground with.

Tsunade smiled, raising her fist once again, and both kunoichi knew that the young girl would not be able to dodge.

Sakura closed her eyes, preparing for the inevitable blow.

Instead of the painful, crushing force she was expecting, however, she felt a light pressure against her forehead.

She opened her eyes to see the Godaime smiling at her with amusement, as her finger pushed gently against Sakura's forehead.

"Gotcha." Tsunade chuckled, winking at the girl.

Despite herself, Sakura gave a sigh of relief, feeling the sweat rolling down her body.

"You know," the Godaime murmured thoughtfully, "This is a situation I remember being in before... with Naruto."

Sakura blinked. "What?" she said blankly, staring.

Tsunade chuckled again, rolling her eyes. "That idiot boy challenged me to a fight because I insulted the Sandaime and the Hokage title."

Sakura blinked again. "Wait... but you're the Godaime now." She stated, baffled. How could someone who didn't like the Hokage's possibly become one?

The Godaime merely smiled mysteriously. "Naruto has a way of making people change their minds, from what I hear." She said quietly, looking away from Sakura.

Sakura nodded, remembering her talk with the very much reformed Gaara of the Desert and the seemingly much less murderous Neji Hyuuga, both of whom had been rather psychotic pre-Naruto. "Yeah... he does." She looked down, somewhat ashamed that she had thought of herself better than him for so long.

If anything, he was a far greater person than she could ever hope to be.

The Hokage brushed herself off, picking her coat up from the ground. "That's all the time I have for today, Sakura. Come back again at the same time." She paused, and glanced back at her pink haired apprentice. "But before we end today's training, there's something I want you to do after you rest a bit."

Sakura looked up at her, confused. "What is it, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade walked over toward the wooden training posts, with her apprentice following close behind.

"When you train against these posts, I want you to focus your chakra into your fist." Tsunade began, glancing at her apprentice to make sure the girl wasn't too tired to pay attention. "When your fist connects, release that chakra all at once."

Sakura nodded, gathering the information and memorizing it. "Is that how you're able to do so much damage, Tsunade-sama?" she asked quietly.

The Hokage nodded. "My strength isn't reliant on muscle, but chakra control." She replied, moving her head slightly so that her pig tails swished back and forth as she stared at the pink haired kunoichi with a serious expression. "Sakura, if your chakra control wasn't as good as it was, I wouldn't even consider teaching you this. It requires chakra control at a level most people would never even come close to reaching."

Sakura smiled at that.

Tsunade smiled back for a moment, before it faded and she turned away. "Now go and get some rest for awhile. If you can, try what I've asked you to do."

As the Godaime walked away, back toward her apprentice, the smile returned.

_She's got a long, long way to go. But damn it, I'm going to make sure she makes it._

"Well, well, now look who's picked up an apprentice." Jiraiya murmured, chuckling to himself as he leaned against a tree, idly glancing up at the Hokage.

"Well, I couldn't let you one up me, could I?" Tsunade said lightly. "But enough jokes." She said, her tone darkening. "We need to talk, seriously this time, Jiraiya." The warning in the tone was clear.

The Toad Sannin nodded, knowing now was not the time. "I can guess. You want me to search for Naruto." He said quietly, resting against the tree a bit more.

"That's right." Tsunade said quietly. She leaned against a tree opposite of Jiraiya's, looking away, toward the stone faces of the past Hokage. "Naruto is important to the future of the Leaf."

"Important to you too." Jiraiya said flatly.

The Godaime shot him an infuriated look. "Don't give me that. You care about the boy too, don't try to lie to me." She snarled scathingly. "You wouldn't take any old kid on to be your apprentice without liking them."

Jiraiya shrugged. "I never said I didn't like Naruto. Fact is, he's so much like the Yondaime and like me that I can't help but love him and hate him at the same time." He murmured, looking downwards.

"It's about more than just how much that boy means to us, Jiraiya." Tsunade muttered, frowning deeply. "I haven't told anyone else, even Shizune..."

She bit her lip, and looked downwards, as though fighting some sort of inner turmoil.

"There are people on the council putting pressure on me. Some of the people there have always been against Naruto's existence. They want me to declare both him and the Uchiha missing nin and send hunter nin or even ANBU after them."

Jiraiya wasn't really surprised. "I figured this might happen. They see this as an opportunity to finish the Kyubi off once and for all." He said softly.

"Damn it!" Tsunade swore, fist clenched tightly. "Those bastards have no idea. I would rather die than ever set the ANBU after Naruto."

It wasn't an idle threat, Jiraiya understood. His fellow Sannin had taken a sword through the heart for the boy. It had been Naruto who brought her back to the Leaf, Naruto who turned the gambling wanderer Tsunade into the Godaime Hokage.

The Hidden Leaf owed Naruto their Godaime. It was just that simple.

"I'll see what I can find." Jiraiya said quietly, nodding his head.

"Thank you." Tsunade whispered sincerely.

---

Kakashi cursed as he let the Chidori dissipate away, the sounds of the birds fading. At his feet was a pile of mostly evaporated water. Some of it was still evaporating on his hand.

"It was a water clone." The Copy Ninja murmured, cursing his luck. Most people would not have been able to pull of a Bunshin that quickly- but that Bloodline Limit...

Kakashi frowned. It looked like he was going to have to be chasing the missing nin awhile longer. Without hesitation, he placed his thumb in his mouth and bit down, hard enough to draw blood.

As the blood welled up from the wound, he slammed his palm down, onto the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a burst of smoke, Kakashi's Ninja Dogs appeared. Pakkun, ever the questioner, walked over to his master. "Who do we gotta track, boss?" he asked quietly.

"There should be six scents here. Four of them belong to the bodies, one of them is mine, and the last one is the one you need to track." Kakashi murmured. "Now go."

The dogs left, all except Pakkun, who glanced at Kakashi. "You alright?" the summoned dog knew how bad Kakashi could get with guilt trips sometimes, and having two of his students missing couldn't help their master any.

"I'm fine." Kakashi said quietly.

Both of them knew he was lying.

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Moko Takabisha** (**Fierce Tiger Ball)**- A blast of ki powered by Ranma's pride and confidence. _

_**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire Release- Art of the Phoenix Flower, the Touch-Me-Not)- **A burst of multiple, smaller fireballs sent at the opponent. _

_**Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire Punch)-** A series of punches so fast that they can look like a single strike. Gets its name from the training style, involving pulling Chestnuts from a fire without being burned. Often called the Chestnut Fist._

_**Bushin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)**- A basic ninjutsu that creates a clone of the user that disappears when hit. However, it is not real, and can do no damage. Mainly a distraction technique. _

_**Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique)-** Attacks the enemy with strong bursts of water. _

_**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)**- A basic ninjutsu in which the ninja quickly replaces themselves with a nearby object- usually a log- in order to avoid attacks and cause confusion. _

_**Koori no Yaiba (Sword of Ice)**- Bloodline technique in which the user freezes the water in the air around the blade, creating a sword of ice that can cut through mostly anything. Also leaves bad frostbite from glancing blows. _

_**Shosen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique)-** By concentrating chakra into the hand, the user can focus that chakra into injuries and heal them. This also has, as shown by Yakushi Kabuto, the ability to be focused into a chakra scalpel which can sever muscles and arteries. _

_**Sensatsu Suisho (A Thousand Flying Water Needles Of Death)- **Freezes water into the shape of sharp needles, which home in on an opponent from all directions. Haku first performs this with a one handed seal, using a large amount of water. Yuki performs this with just the seal and no body of water, since he is able to pull water from the atmosphere. _

_**Chidori (Thousand Birds)-** A-level ninjutsu technique. The user grabs their wrist, and focuses chakra until it becomes visible, usually as blue lightning. It's used as a swift, powerful finishing blow that requires a great deal of speed and the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) to complete. It gets its name from the chirping sound it makes when it strikes. _

_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)-** This technique binds the user with a contract, seal, and the user's blood to an animal. Once bound, the animal can be called upon by the summoner for tasks or for battle. _

... Alright. I get it, people. You're upset that Naruto seemed to be 'beaten' so easily, and is only using Kage Bunshin. You've even started saying how many other people think so.

So, in the interest of enlightening the masses, here's a good tip.

Sasuke's Mature SharinganNaruto's Kyubi chakra without a tail.

Sasuke with Sharingan, therefor Normal Naruto.

Watch or read the fight between them at the Valley of the End.

Get it? Let me extrapolate if you don't. Naruto's normal level is NOT equal to Sasuke's Sharingan. He just doesn't have the speed or the strength as he is now to compete with Sasuke's eyes. It's that simple. You can whine all you want, but Naruto is still never going to touch Sasuke without the demon fox... at least not yet, anyway.

If the fight had gone on, yes, Naruto would have come back with a vengeance. He always does. And yes, Rasengan would have come into play sooner or later.

But if the fight had gone on, this story wouldn't be the same. I'm not letting them get at each other's throats until they're good and ready..

For the purposes of this story, chakra is basically ki. They're both life energy, in a sense.

Yuki Arashi is an Original Character created by me for Kakashi's filler arc. Yuki's name means snow, and Arashi means storm. Basically, snow reminded me of Haku, so that's why I ended up picking it. Besides, I couldn't help the idea of playing around with Haku's bloodline ability a bit more.

I had absolutely no idea what jutsu Sakura was using to keep the fish alive in canon, so I went with the only medical jutsu shown so far in the series. The scene where Tsunade lectures Sakura is a modification of a manga flashback- the scene is done earlier in this story than suggested in the manga.

This chapter, surprisingly, is very Team Seven oriented. I rather liked it. Very little Naruto, but he got the spotlight for the beginning of the story, and Sakura hasn't had nearly enough attention till now. Don't worry though. He and Sasuke'll be back in force next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8 Minor Arcanum

"_Do not be restricted by your knowledge and experience. This place turns logic upside-down. What's big is small, what's strong is weak, and heaven is earth."_

_-Final Fantasy IX_

Chapter 8

Minor Arcanum

"Well... it has been quite some time, hasn't it?" the voice murmured, from within the darkness of the gargantuan cavern, appearing as little more than a shadowy silhouette, same as the eight others within the cave.

Nothing about them was visible save their figures and the cloaks they wore.

Red clouds on black cloaks.

Strangely though, their forms seemed to flicker in and out of existence, as though not quite real...

"Not since Orochimaru left us seven years ago." Another figure, hunched over strangely, cackled in agreement. "All of us meeting together like this... it's quite interesting."

"Enough, Sasori." The first speaker said curtly, indicating his superior rank as leader of this organization. "Though I was not planning on us convening for another two months, we have a problem." He turned his head toward one of the figures- one whose eyes spun with three dots.

"Itachi," he said quietly, staring at the Sharingan eyed figure standing impassively, "Your brother... he appears to have disappeared with the Kyubi jinchuriki."

The seeming leader of the group paused again, and turned toward another figure. "Zetsu... what did you see while you watched their battle?"

The strange figure's head seemed almost enveloped by what looked like a Venus flytrap, and when he spoke, his voice possessed an odd, untraceable quality. The figure seemed vaguely amused. "Your brother, Itachi, appears to have quite a volatile relationship with this jinchuriki."

Zetsu chuckled darkly. "They nearly destroyed the Valley of the End in a wave of chakra that I think even you, Kisame, might have trouble matching."

The tall, sword wielding figure of Hoshigaki Kisame made a brief "Humph," but otherwise no other sound.

Without a beat, Zetsu's voice changed, becoming more mechanical and controlled. "There was a large wave of light created from the chakra, and then they were gone." He finished, and said no more.

"This poses a problem." The first speaker said, a trace of irritation in his voice. "We must have the Kyubi. It is crucial. Absolutely crucial to our goals." His voice was harsh and annoyed, ringing throughout the cave.

"However..." the leader paused, as if considering something, "At the least, this development has hindered Orochimaru's designs on obtaining the Sharingan."

Itachi seemed to stir, but was otherwise silent.

"We don't have to be impatient, yeah," another, long haired figure cut in, seemingly highly amused by the whole conversation. "After all, someday Orochimaru will die, yeah... what's important now is that we only have three years. If we do this together, our success is guaranteed, yeah?"

"I'd prefer to kill Orochimaru myself, by my own hand." Sasori growled, shifting his hunched figure slowly.

"Have you discovered more about _that_ jutsu?" the leader asked.

Sasori made a slow shake of his head, an odd, mechanical clank coming from his body as he did so. "My spy is working on it. He should bring me the results in a few years, after analysis of the body." He sounded oddly eager.

"In the meantime, then," the leader turned his head toward two of the figures in particular. "Itachi and Kisame, you will discover where the Kyubi's jinchuriki has disappeared to. We don't have to find him right away... but the knowledge of his location will be valuable to the future."

Itachi nodded. Kisame hefted his massive sword and grinned.

The leader nodded back curtly, and, although his mouth was not visible, it was quite possible he was smiling.

"Soon enough, the Kyubi, and everything else, shall be ours."

The nine members of Akatsuki slowly faded away into the darkness.

---

Orochimaru glanced at one of his oddest artifacts he kept. The shriveled, preserved hand of his original body, kept upright on his table in his private room. While the rest of his original body had been destroyed by himself personally, this part he kept.

This was because, borne on one of the fingers was a unique ring inscribed with the first kanji of Kuchin, the Void; a ring that only members of the organization, Akatsuki, wore.

Funny, that he should think of _them_ now, while his own plans seemed to have hit an impediment. They were an enemy he could not take lightly, but his knowledge of their true objectives bought him considerable defense against them.

What's more, he was still adjusting to his new body- it would take a while yet for his abilities to return.

Kabuto entered the room once again. "I will depart now, Orochimaru-sama." He murmured, bowing low, holding a small traveling pack.

"Hn. I would have you do one more task for me while you are away, Kabuto." The Snake Sannin hissed quietly, licking his lips idly. "I am expecting a member of the Hidden Mist's Arashi Clan arriving in our lands soon. Make contact with him and be sure to direct him here. His talents will be most invaluable in the coming days."

Kabuto nodded, an odd smile playing on his lips. "As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

---

"So, what exactly do you think we should do first?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

Sasuke made his usual "hn" noise as they plodded along the street, his hands in his pockets, looking rather sour.

"Aw jeez, you don't have any ideas? Not even one?" Naruto complained, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"I doubt you do either, dumbass." Sasuke said scathingly, glaring at the blonde.

"That's not true!" Naruto proclaimed defiantly, stopping in the street to turn toward his companion.

Sasuke arched a critical eyebrow. "What's your idea, then?" he asked suspiciously.

Naruto grinned widely. "We find some food!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Right. That's not an idea to get us back home, idiot." He scowled, wondering why he had even bothered asking. "Besides," he added, "Where are you going to get the money to pay for it?"

Naruto paused at that. He could go back to the Dojo for lunch and bring Sasuke; but frankly, he understood he was freeloading off of the Tendos and figured he needed to find a way to make some money on his own.

It was really too bad he had left behind his wallet...

His reverie was broken by a smell- a delightful, wonderful, enchanting smell that could only be-

"RAMEN!"

Sasuke bit back a groan as his blonde teammate (or ex-teammate, or... that was a gray area he didn't want to look into at the moment) ran off, following the scent of a bowl of noodles.

Sasuke took a step forward and suddenly winced, a wave of fresh pain that was too strong to ignore washing over him. His left arm began to ache, and his breath became shallow as a spike of pain was driven into his chest.

"Sasuke?" Naruto paused, looking back toward the Uchiha.

Panting, the Sharingan user shook his head, urging himself to get over the pain. "It's nothing." He muttered, wiping some sweat off his brow.

---

Kiba Inuzuka sighed, leaning into his pillow, wishing he was anywhere but the hospital. However, since people in Wind Country probably heard the Godaime Hokage's shouts when she discovered that Neji Hyuuga had slipped out of the hospital earlier, he decided against trying anything.

He wasn't willing to risk the wrath of a woman who could punch through stone walls like it was nothing.

"_After that last mission, I'm surprised you have any energy left at all," the Hokage had muttered when he asked to leave the room to go outside, checking over his injuries listed on her clipboard. _

The five of them- four, Kiba corrected, with Naruto currently missing in action- had yet to be formally debriefed about the mission, and even Shikamaru hadn't given the Godaime more than a brief outline of what had happened. This was mainly due to the fact that nearly all of them, save Shikamaru and the missing Naruto, were currently still under medical care for at while longer.

The mission...

Kiba clenched his fists. Even though he had learned one of his family's best jutsus, mastered an entirely new level of transformation, he had been beaten back soundly and nearly killed by the enemy.

From what he was told, he had received a minor concussion from attacking that giant gate of Sakon and Ukon's, which, truth be told, was small compared to the other injuries. The memory brought a painful reminder that there was still so many more enemies stronger than himself.

There was a shy knock on the door.

"Erm... Kiba?" a single, silvery white eye peeked in.

"Ah!" Kiba grinned, "Hinata! Come on in!" he said eagerly, gesturing wildly.

The Hyuuga's eldest daughter strode in shyly, smiling slightly. Behind her was Shino, still as silent as ever. The Aburame gave him a nod, which the other boy returned.

"I'm glad you two came," Kiba laughed, sitting himself up, propping up his pillows as he did so, "I've been bored out of my mind."

"When will they let you out?" Hinata asked quietly, placing herself in the chair in front of his bed. Shino, predictably, preferred to stand.

"Couple more days. They want to make sure that I'm in top shape." Kiba replied loudly, still grinning. "Hey, did you hear? Neji snuck out of the hospital, and ended up being yelled at by the Hokage herself!"

Hinata, despite herself, giggled.

Shino raised an eyebrow at the familiar way his teammate addressed the Hyuuga prodigy. They had both made a silent agreement after Hinata's match with Neji that the older boy was, to put it in Naruto's terms, a grade-A bastard.

_It must have been that mission_, the bug user postulated. "Kiba," Shino murmured, "Just what happened on that mission?"

"Me and Akamaru bit off a bit more than we could chew." Kiba replied simply, shrugging as he glanced at his faithful canine, sleeping in the corner. "I got separated from them, so I don't know what happened with Shikamaru and Naruto."

Hinata looked down at the mention of the blonde.

Both of her teammates noticed her demeanor immediately. "Don't worry, Hinata." Kiba assured her, laughing loudly to offset his own doubts, "Naruto's a tough guy. He wouldn't die so easily."

Though Shino frowned at the word die, he inclined his head toward his teammate in gratitude for the concern shown to their female companion.

"Thank you... Kiba." Hinata murmured, smiling gratefully.

"Still... I wish I could do something to help." Kiba muttered, scratching the back of his head. "But by the time Akamaru recovers, Naruto's scent would probably have faded away, if it hadn't already."

Hinata and Shino shared a look.

The Aburame coughed slightly. "Actually... that's something we needed to talk to you about." Kiba looked up at the other boy, puzzled. "There is a bug, the Bikochu, that, when first born, memorizes a single scent and can track that scent no matter how faint."

"And you want to use that to find Naruto?" Kiba said, catching on quickly.

Shino nodded. "The Hokage has placed your mission on hold pending Naruto's return. If we can find him, then we can confirm the success or failure of your mission."

Despite his controlled tone, both Hinata and Kiba could tell that the bug user was bothered by something.

"Oi... you're not going on some guilt trip, are ya?" Kiba asked slowly, staring hard at the Aburame. "Because you shouldn't feel bad because you were on a mission with your father at the time."

"If I had been available," Shino tried to assert, but the other boy cut him off.

"We ran out of time." Kiba muttered, looking down at the pearly white hospital sheets. "I just happened to be walking by Chouji's house at the time." He looked up, a slight quirk in his lips.

"If it helps, Naruto suggested that Shikamaru should have approached someone like you or Neji first, instead of Chouji." The Inuzuka grinned fully.

Shino raised his eyebrow at that. Naruto had only ever seen him fight once, and they had hardly exchanged more than a few words, if at that. To group a boy he had never seen the full abilities of with the genius of the Hyuuga was quite a compliment.

"Look, if we find this..." Kiba seemed to struggle to remember the name as he gestured about, searching his memory, "Bikochu thing, then it'll be because you brought it up. That means you helped us finish our mission."

To that, Shino had no argument.

---

Ranma blinked slowly, fighting the black dots that spotted his vision. Either the teacher's lecture was literally boring him to death, or that kid had really done a number on him.

The bell rang, signaling the next period, but Ranma barely seemed to notice.

"Ranma? Ranma!" Akane said loudly, gripping his shoulder and shaking him, thinking was asleep.

Nearby, Ukyo looked over concernedly as she packed up her books, and made sure her giant spatula was secure on her back.

Ranma hissed and winced. "Akane! Don't do that!" he snapped, grabbing his bookbag.

"If it hurts so much you should have said something, you jerk!" Akane shot back, narrowing her eyes and she pulled ahead of him, head held high in a haughty sniff.

"Stupid tomboy... what's she know..." Ranma muttered, under his breath. The black dots started growing and spreading. His body felt so heavy...

Without warning, a group of students bustled by the martial artist, a stray elbow caught him right where Sasuke had punched him.

Ranma made a loud curse and hissed as pain swallowed up his senses. He stumbled about drunkenly, trying to hold himself up.

"Hey Ranma? You alright?" someone- probably Hiroshi or Daisuke, slapped him on the back rather forcefully, and the martial artist yelped.

The noise caused the attention of the crowd of students toward Ranma. Unnoticed by all, however, was the slender, blue haired figure of Shampoo leaning out of one of the windows. With a sly, smile, she brought up a small, leather bag tied with string.

"With this, Shampoo win Ranma for sure." She murmured, remembering the merchant's words.

"_No worries, pretty girl!" the Chinese traveling merchant grinned, handing her the bag. "This sure to knock any man off his feet, for sure!"_

Shampoo opened the bag and poured out the dusty, golden powder onto her palm. Sucking in a deep breath, she blew out, letting the dust pour out over Ranma.

Ranma, unluckily, took a deep breath, and sucked the whole of the dust over himself.

Shampoo leered at him.

The people around him stared, but the young man didn't notice as he staggered forward, blinking blearily.

"Ranma?" Akane's voice seemed rather distant and faint, as though coming from far away.

"Ranma-honey?" that was Ukyo's voice...

Suddenly, the darkness rushed up toward him like a howling abyss.

The last thing he felt was a hard landing against the tile and Akane's voice.

"RANMA!"

---

Akane, for once, was the first to make it to Ranma's side as she pushed several students out the way, grabbing Ranma and turning him over, so that he wasn't lying face down.

Shampoo bit out a Chinese curse under her breath. "That not love powder! That knockout powder!" she muttered, annoyed. "Stupid merchant trick Shampoo!"

Once again, Shampoo's frustration was unnoticed as the crowd gathered around, eager to know the latest development about the unofficial king of Nerima.

"It looks like he just collapsed," Akane murmured thankfully, and, without thinking, placed his head on her lap so that he wasn't having to rest against the hard, cold tile while unconscious.

However, this tiny gesture would have massive ramifications.

Ukyo's face twisted into shock, surprise, and horror as she saw Ranma's head in Akane's lap. Her face went white as snow, her book bag fell to the ground with a soft thud. Without thinking, she turned and ran, as fast as she could. No one could be sure, but many suspected she was crying as she ran out of the building.

Kuno, who had been passing by (i.e. waiting to try and ambush Ranma and/or try to get Akane to date him), stood rooted to the spot. His face was, at first, whiter than the bandages wrapped around it, but then it changed, flushing with a deep, murderous red, filled with impotent rage. As he attempted to lunge toward the pair with a strangled growl, his injuries caught up with him again and Kuno toppled over.

No one put _his_ head on their lap, however.

Shampoo's face contorted itself into the paragon of jealous rage as she flushed in terrible fury. She dropped the empty bag of sleeping powder and moved to attempt to strangle Akane. As she was about to lunge, however, Kuno collapsed nearby her, knocking her backwards and out the window, thus sparing Akane from strangulation.

The students milling about stared openly. Most of the time, you'd think Ranma and Akane were either a) already married, b) worst enemies, or c) still in grade school by the way they acted (i.e. argued). Most of the student body agreed that the two would never match, not with their personalities.

Even the students who spent time with Akane or Ranma never got the relationship between the two.

At this moment, however, it was fairly clear to everyone how they felt.

And, to add to the ripples this moment would make, Ryoga turned the corner, predictably lost inside the school (having tried to find his way out and ended up going inside). He too, paled as soon as he caught glimpse of the two.

He stared for a moment. He simply couldn't believe it. Akane was such a wonderful, sweet girl. He loved her. But the look of tender caring on her face as she held Ranma in her lap was so sincere that even Ryoga's stubborn nature could not deny it.

Ryoga turned and ran, hoping to God that his sense of direction led him far, far away for a good long while.

The males of the student body saw the scene, and, nearly in unison, sighed. Most had relinquished their dreams of dating the youngest Tendo, but there was always a faint, tiny hope that was stoked by the... enthusiastic arguments Akane and Ranma had.

But no more.

"I guess we really have lost Akane to Ranma then."

"Damn shame."

"Yeah..."

"You know, but that means Ukyo is free."

"Huh... that's true. And she can be pretty cute when she's not in uniform."

"Plus there's that Chinese girl that follows Ranma around that's now on the market."

"True... maybe this development won't be so bad after all."

Suddenly, Akane realized what she had done, and tried to pass it off quickly, but the damage had been done and now it was clear that many people were now apt to believe she and Ranma were more..._ intimate_ than they had previously thought.

Sighing, Akane pulled Ranma up, supporting him on her shoulder. "Even unconscious you still cause me grief," she muttered, but her tone and eyes were soft. "I'd better get you to the nurse's office."

---

Cologne frowned as she idly smoked a pipe, breathing out a large cloud of drifting gray smoke. It was just another day at the Cat Café, her restaurant.

A few customers were eating their Ranma animatedly, and Mousse was occasionally crashing about in the kitchen, somehow creating edible food despite his mistaking knives for spoons and the floor for bowls.

It was peaceful, relatively.

Almost too peaceful...

"RAMEN!"

The door burst open with a thunderous crash, and suddenly an orange clad blonde stood in the center of the shop, grinning like a maniac.

Some of customers looked on in interest, but most were already used to the sheer chaos of Nerima, which nearly always included (actually, it was more like required) the destruction of doors.

"What's all the ruckus?" Cologne said grumpily, stomping over toward the newcomer on her staff.

"Ah! It's the old mummy!" Naruto shouted, taking a step backwards, but not in time to avoid being clobbered by Cologne's staff.

Sasuke snickered as he leaned against the doorframe.

"So what do you want?" Cologne asked, back on top of her staff as she glared at the disrespectful blonde.

"Ramen!" Naruto grinned.

Cologne rolled her eyes, but decided that, if the blonde was going to be a customer, she might as well attempt to be patient with him. "Do you have money?" she asked, remembering that the two had appeared under mysterious circumstances.

Naruto paused, and flushed as he looked down at his feet. "Uh..."

Sasuke snickered again.

Cologne rolled her eyes again. "Well, if you don't have any money then beat it." The Amazon matriarch muttered, irritable.

Naruto looked up again, his sky blue eyes wide and pleading; a move that he had used on Iruka several times to coerce free ramen from the chuunin. "Please... I'm so hungry..." he complained, rubbing his stomach. When the white haired elder did not look convinced, he continued, "I'll do anything! Please!"

Cologne glanced at the boy with a curious look. "There is one thing..." she began slowly.

---

The door to the Tendo household opened with a shuffle and a groan as Akane hefted the still unconscious Ranma on her shoulder. "You eat way too much," she complained, even though she knew it would fall on deaf ears.

"Akane? You're home awfully early from school," Kasumi's voice drifted from the hallway as the eldest Tendo daughter came out to greet her sister. As her eyes fell upon Ranma's sleeping form, however, they widened. "Oh my! What happened to Ranma?"

"He just passed out while we were at school. The nurse said that he's not hurt, just unconscious for some reason." Akane explained, hefting Ranma toward the stairs as she did so. Kasumi moved toward her and helped her sister support the pig tailed martial artist up the stairs.

"Oh dear." Kasumi murmured, as the two reached the top of the stairs. "I do hope Ranma is alright."

Akane shrugged. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She said quietly, dragging him off to his room.

However, under her breath, she added softly, "I hope."

---

Just outside of the Tendo residence, two more people were coming in- though both of them were conscious.

"I can't believe we agreed to that old hag's terms." Sasuke grumbled, glaring at Naruto as though it was somehow his fault.

"Eh, shut up! We got good ramen out of the deal!" Naruto replied loudly, patting his stomach in satisfaction. That old hag might have been weird looking, but her ramen was nearly as good as Ichiraku.

"You're such an idiot." Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes. "Do you ever think without your stomach?"

"Ninja should always eat whenever they can, because you never know what might happen next!" Naruto said loudly.

The Uchiha stared at him for a moment, before speaking in a low drawl, "You stole that from Kakashi-sensei, didn't you?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well... maybe..." he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Dumbass." Sasuke muttered again. "So, why are we here?" he asked slowly, eyeing the house.

"We've got nowhere else to sleep, do we?" Naruto remarked airily, grinning still. "Besides, Kasumi is a great cook!"

"We're going to freeload?" Sasuke wrinkled his nose. He despised having to rely on others.

Naruto frowned. "No!" he said loudly. "We're going to pay them with the money we get from the old hag!"

"Don't remind me about that." Sasuke murmured, rolling his eyes as he snorted in disbelief at both himself and Naruto.

"I can't believe that we've been reduced to delivery boys for a ramen shop."

Naruto grinned widely. "I don't know what you're complaining about! Discounts on ramen plus being paid? That's a great deal!" and with that, he opened the door, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Kasumi! I'm back!"

Kasumi walked down the stairs, smiling serenely. "Thank you for bringing Ranma and Akane their things, Naruto. I've still got some leftovers from lunch, if you'd like."

Naruto's grin brightened, but he shook his head. "Ah, sorry Kasumi. I ate already. But thanks, anyway." He said sunnily. After a moment, he glanced at the dark haired boy next to him, as though he had forgotten he was there. "Oh, and this is Sasuke Uchiha. Don't mind him, he's just a bastard to everyone."

Sasuke's glare was so venomous that it looked as though he was trying to make Naruto spontaneously combust through sheer will alone.

"It's nice to meet you, Sasuke." Kasumi said lightly, smiling.

Sasuke actually had the urge to smile back for a moment. A spike of pain surfaced as he was reminded of his mother's own smiling face for some reason. Still, he could not find it in himself to resent this motherly figure.

"Eh, Kasumi... do you think we could stay here, at least until we figure out how to get back home?" Naruto asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "We can pay you now that we have jobs, too!" he added brightly.

Kasumi smiled. "You're welcome to stay. And there's no need to pay..." she began, but the blonde cut her off with a loud, sunny smile and voice.

"But I want to! Kasumi has been very nice, and so I want to help out too!" Naruto grinned, his eyes bright and expressive, like an eager child's.

Kasumi seemed almost startled for a moment, before she smiled brightly. "Okay then! That's a deal!"

---

Upstairs, Akane was feeling none of the sunniness that was being shared downstairs. Instead, she felt rather mired. She knew for a fact that news about her unconscious gesture of kindness towards Ranma would spread rapidly.

Inwardly, she shuddered. She wasn't sure if Nerima would survive the rampage that would ensue.

Ranma made a low groan from his lying down position on his futon.

"Ranma!" Akane said, startled as she leaned over him, eyes bright with concern. "You're awake!"

"What the heck happened to me..." the martial artist muttered sleepily, yawning as he pulled himself up.

"You're asking me!" Akane said irritably, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. Remembering all the problems that seemed to loom on the horizon because of her helping him soured her considerably. "You're the one who passed out!"

"I did?" Ranma frowned, his mouth setting itself in a deep, annoyed line. "I must have been in bad shape after that fight..." he muttered, unaware that the sleeping powder Shampoo had slipped him was the true cause of his previous state.

Ranma's urge to get stronger was well known to only rise up when his position as the best fighter in Nerima was challenged or usurped. And supposedly being injured to the point where he passed out after a fight was definitely part of that condition.

"Next time, I'll beat that little snot." Ranma promised under his breath.

"Well, now that you're feeling better, I'd better see if Kasumi needs anything. It's too late to head back to school now." Akane said, standing up straight and stepping out of the room.

As Akane came downstairs, she spotted Naruto's distinctive head of blonde hair.

"Naruto? When did you-" she was cut off as resounding crash shattered the front door in a hail of dust and debris. Kasumi looked nonplused at the destruction of her front door as Sasuke and Naruto leaped away, both glaring at the intruder with annoyance.

Shampoo's slender frame stood above the wreckage, her eyes burning with fierce anger of a woman scorned. In her hand was a long, elegant straight sword of Chinese make. "Akane!" she shouted loudly, thrusting her sword toward the other girl. "I KILL!"

Akane managed a strangled yelp as Shampoo charged up the stairs, swinging the blade down at her-

Only to be blocked by a kunai, held by Naruto, who glared defiantly at the blue haired girl. "Oi! What do you think you're doing, attacking Akane like that!" he demanded, thankful that he had picked up the weapons Sasuke had thrown during their earlier fight.

"You no get in my way!" Shampoo snarled, her nostrils flaring as she pulled back, swishing the sword. "Otherwise, you die too!" she charged again.

Naruto pushed Akane back with a grunt and blocked with his kunai, straining as he did so. His eyes widened. _She's so strong..._ not as strong as old lady Tsunade, but still beyond what her slender frame seemed to say.

Sasuke watched on in amusement. He wasn't going to let Naruto get killed until they figured out a way home, but watching the blonde struggle against this sword wielding girl was entertaining nonetheless.

Naruto ducked a sweeping slash from Shampoo, and parried another downward blow with his kunai. In his head, he was asking to any deity who would listen, _Why is everyone here so violent!_

Shampoo snarled, coming down hard again with her sword. Naruto sidestepped the blow and swung out with his fist, hoping to knock her out.

Shampoo, however, leapt nimbly aside, before counterattacking with a series of sweeping motions that left the air humming with the blade's movements.

Naruto ducked and weaved to avoid the first series of blows, but Shampoo's abilities with sword proved to be formidable as the blonde ninja was forced to rely on his small kunai to parry the other blows. Each time, his wrist began to shudder under each impact, and his arm ached terribly.

Finally, Naruto decided that he could take any more chances and leapt backwards, getting some distance between himself and the girl. His hands moved to make the seal for Kage Bunshin.

Shampoo charged, hoping to strike before the blonde pulled off his technique.

Naruto opened his mouth. "Kage-"

"That's enough!"

Suddenly, a shower of water was flung over Shampoo, startling Naruto enough that he didn't finish his sentence and his technique. Akane stood to the side, panting with her dripping, but now nearly empty bucket.

"I don't think water is going to stop her, Akane..." Naruto began, but then trailed off as his eyes bugged out. Nearby, Sasuke's own eyes widened.

Where the blue haired young woman had once stood, now was only a very angry, pink furred cat with a tiny bell clinging to each strand of fur that came down from its (somehow very human haired) head. The cat's crimson eyes narrowed and it hissed at Akane angrily.

"... What the Hell?" Naruto said blankly, staring. He didn't think that the blue haired girl had used a Transformation jutsu, but...

"Oh, that's right. You don't know." Akane said, dropping the bucket as she smiled slightly. "Shampoo has a curse because she fell into the Cursed Spring of Drowned Cat. Whenever she gets hit by cold water, she turns into a cat. Hot water changes her back."

"... she turns into a cat when hit with water?" Naruto said slowly. Sasuke kept staring, as though the whole thing was (and it was, actually) completely ludicrous.

Akane nodded, as though it was a completely acceptable fact that a mixture of two hydrogens and one oxygen could turn someone from a human being to a cat.

"Oh..." Naruto said, nodding his head in understanding. A moment later, his countenance did a complete about face.

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE!"

---

Eventually, Akane managed to convince both Naruto and Sasuke that there was, in fact, a Cursed Spring of Drowned Cat when she poured hot water on Shampoo's head.

Of course, the first thing the blue haired girl did upon her return to human form was to pick up where she left off and attack Akane again.

Thankfully, Akane threw a second bucket of water at Shampoo, thus neutralizing the attack and furthering the proof that Shampoo really did turn into a cat in cold water.

"So... anyone else turn into cats around here?" Sasuke asked sardonically, gazing at Akane, and then Kasumi.

Akane shook her head. "No cats... but Ranma does turn into a girl,his father turns into a panda,and Mousse into a duck..."

Naruto blinked, once, twice. "Wait... so Ranma has a curse too? He fell into a Cursed Spring of Drowned-"

"Girl, yeah, yeah. Geez Akane, just tell everyone why don'tcha." Ranma's voice came down the stairs, grumbling and full of annoyance. Sasuke stiffened as he heard Ranma.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, praying fervently that there wouldn't be another fight.

Ranma came down the stairs, scratching the back of his head and looking fairly annoyed...

Until he spotted Sasuke.

The air suddenly felt as though there was a static current running through the atmosphere, and a pair of obsidian black eyes glared at a pair of metallic blue eyes which glared back with equal force.

"What's he doin' here?" Ranma asked, turning to Akane with an expectant glare.

"Naruto and Sasuke here will be staying with us for awhile. They've already agreed to pay for room and board, isn't that nice?" Kasumi answered, smiling happily.

Ranma choked. Living under the same roof with _that guy?_

Sasuke was thinking the exact same thing, though neither would have been happy to know that.

Ranma made a low growling noise.

Sasuke delivered his best "Go-To-Hell-And-Die" glare, one that could even make Naruto shut up on occasion.

"Well, well, that's a nice surprise. People living here and actually paying to do so?" Nabiki's slow drawl broke through the tension as she came in, looking vaguely amused. "I must say that's not a bad deal."

"Not a bad deal?" Ranma grumbled, looking irritable.

Nabiki shot him a smirking look. "Compared to your free ride here. After all, sometimes we can't get enough hot water because of the bills... and think about how having both these boys paying for their stay here would benefit that problem." She smiled like a Cheshire cat, and Ranma, guilty at times over the monetary problems his (and his father's) presence caused for the Tendos, conceded defeat.

Ranma glanced away in a huff. Sasuke merely set his glare from deadly to his usual standoffish glare.

Both Naruto and Akane had a bad feeling about this arrangement...

---

Somehow, they got through dinner and the rest of the night without problems (other than constant glaring) between Sasuke and Ranma. The only thing of note was Soun Tendo's happy sobs when he was told that the two boys would pay for their stay at the dojo.

After all, that freed him from having to do anything other than his normal routine- playing constant games of shogi with Genma, Ranma's father.

Naruto had the sneaking suspicion that Shikamaru could probably beat both of the adults blindfolded, however, from the constant cheating the two engaged in.

The next, Naruto and Sasuke began their jobs as ramen delivery boys.

"Now, first, show me just how fast you are. I need to know if you are truly going to be an asset to Cat Café." Cologne said slowly, smoking her pipe.

Naruto grinned cheekily and immediately did a back flip out of the shop, onto the wall across the way, and then ran up the side of the building to the roof in a matter of moments.

Cologne smiled slightly, and glanced at the other boy.

Sasuke made a low grunt of annoyance and performed the same feat, but in even less time.

Cologne was intrigued by the fact that the boy's were focusing their ki into their feet to make themselves faster and run up the walls. It was a degree of manipulation that was normally found in extremely high levels of the martial arts, but here it was in the hands of two twelve year old boys.

_Who are these two?_

Still, Cologne was more than pleased with their abilities and happily brought them the carrying cases for the ramen; metal boxes with wooden handles.

Sasuke, predictably, was not happy about the job in the least. However, he took the metal casing that housed the bowl of ramen and the paper with the directions without question. In a flash, he disappeared, using the same trick as he and Kakashi had done when they arrived at the Chuunin exams for the fight with Gaara.

"Showoff." Naruto muttered, grabbing his own delivery and directions and taking off using chakra in his feet. After a brief period of time, he arrived a large, wall enclosed house that was fairly large, with a pair of large, Western style wooden doors.

Naruto knocked, calling out cheerily, "Ramen delivery!"

The door opened to reveal a young woman, probably around Akane's age, with long, frazzled brown hair and piercing blue-green orbs. She was wearing strange, long blue robes. "Ah. Thank you." She said, smiling enigmatically, taking the box and handing him a bundle of cash.

"Uh... no problem." Naruto said awkwardly, fazed by the girl's strange appearance. "Um... what are you supposed to be?"

The girl blinked for a moment, and arched her eyebrow. "I am a fortune teller. You may call me Mio."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto said loudly, always pleased to introduce himself.

"Hm... Naruto... would you like your fortune read?" Mio asked, her emerald eyes holding a strange, otherworldly look to them that reminded him of an owl's gaze, sharp and piercing.

Naruto paused for a moment, weighing his options. He'd never had his future read before, and never really thought about fortune telling. But... maybe it would help him find a way home...

"Sure." The blonde shrugged.

"Then follow me." Mio said airily, and opened the door wider, gesturing for the genin to come inside. Naruto followed the fortune teller into a room, lit up only by candles and without any other source of light. Shelves were stacked with strange objects; arcane symbols, odd relics, and jars filled with strange things that Naruto really didn't want to see any clearer.

Mio set down the ramen off to the side and moved to stand next to a circular, cloth covered table. She motioned for him to sit down in the chair in front of the table. Naruto sat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as he eyed the lit candle that sat upon the center of the table.

Without a word, the fortune teller rummaged about on one of the shelves, until she retrieved a deck of elongated cards.

"What's that?" Naruto asked curiously.

"This is a Tarot card deck." Mio explained. "I'll just give you a general reading."

Mio shuffled the deck once, twice, thrice, and placed the first card down, a horned, winged demon standing above a chained man and woman, both of whom were naked. "The Devil." She murmured, naming the card with an even voice.

Naruto shuddered, and automatically, his thoughts drifted to the Kyubi.

"This is your past. You were never in control of your past, it was determined by an evil, malicious force that now dwells inside of you, eating away at you like a cancer." Her words were like shadowy wisps of poison. "You had the choice to either be swallowed up by this darkness, or to stand in the light, accepting that as part of you are."

Mio paused and stared at him for a moment, as if weighing him on a spectral scale. "I believe you are one who has chosen to stand in the light and accept the shadows within."

Naruto said nothing, and did not feel much better for the veiled compliment.

The girl moved on and took the next card from the deck, laying down a little below the first card, so that the top left corner of that card and the bottom right of the Devil were facing each other.

This card was the exact opposite of the Devil- there was an angelic man backed by the sun, standing over an unchained man and woman.

"The Lovers. This is your present." Mio said airily, her words like a mystic smoke descending onto the room.

Naruto blushed, looking downwards. "So someone's in love with me then, right!" he said excitedly. _Maybe Sakura-chan-_

Mio shook her head, unknowingly dashing a rather pleasant daydream the blonde ninja was about to embark on. "It doesn't have to mean a loving, or even sexual relationship. What this means is that you and another person have an intertwined destiny, and that there will be a choice facing you. It is a card of choice."

Now Naruto's thoughts were on Sasuke. It did look like he and that bastard were thrown into this mess together, and there was still the choice of whether or not Sasuke would return to the Hidden Leaf.

After she had finished speaking, Mio then played out the next card, with a man standing on a cliff, a bright sun to his back and the sea to his front, once again moving a little downwards and diagonally. She was watching it carefully as it was laid onto the table. "Ah. The Fool. This card represents your future."

Naruto bristled with indignation. "Hey! I'm no idiot!" he snarled, gritting his teeth.

Unruffled, the brown haired girl shook her head. "The Fool isn't a put down. This card represents unmoulded potential, the capacity for both positive and negative outcomes. It's a new beginning, but not one that is without peril. Note the cliff the Fool stands near- that is where you stand."

Once again, Naruto felt troubled and confused. Why couldn't it have been more definite? Wasn't there anything in there about being Hokage, or going on a date with Sakura-chan, or beating Sasuke up and bringing him home?

Mio then took a fourth card and placed it down in the same manner as before. On it were two wolves howling at the large moon that hovered overhead. "This is quite strange." She said softly. "The Moon... the path you must take is dark and winding, and you may not know where you are going. But you must trust your intuition, and continue on regardless."

Naruto weighed the words carefully, trying his best to understand.

The fortune teller removed the fifth card from the deck, and placed it higher than the fourth card, placing its bottom left adjacent to the top right of the Moon. It depicted (much to Naruto's mortification) a naked woman bending over a pool, underneath a bright star.

"The Star... this is your aid. Hope and faith, belief that burns throughout the darkest night." Mio said quietly. "A most fortunate help, I believe."

Naruto privately agreed, showing it with a very taciturn nod and nothing else. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet, for once.

The sixth card was placed in the same manner as the fifth. It was a woman (thankfully garbed in very chaste robes that covered everything but her face), sitting between a black pillar and a white pillar.

"The High Priestess... your hopes and your fears are centered around her, around what she represents." Mio's voice seemed like a ghost's caress in the shadows. "She is the Shadow, your negative half. It's power is open to you to make your dreams reality, but you fear it... you fear that the Shadow will be exposed and you will be hated for it."

Once again, a disturbingly accurate reference to the Kyubi and Naruto's innermost fear, his greatest one of all- that the Kyubi would be revealed and he would be shunned by his friends.

The seventh card was placed directly across from the first card, in the same manner as the sixth, creating an arrowhead pattern. The card depicted a large tower surrounded by clouds, and being struck with lightning.

"The final card, the outcome of your destiny is the Tower..." she murmured. "You must cast aside all unnecessary things, you must decide upon what you truly need- and then you must proceed forward. The status quo will be changed- violently."

Mio studied the blonde with guarded interest. "I have never read a fortune such as yours before. This is most intriguing."

Naruto gave a low, forced laugh. "Well... this is all just hocus pocus, right? I mean... it's not like all of this is real..." he trailed off, and no one was convinced.

"Well. Perhaps Fate can be averted, or I have misread the cards." Mio acquiesced slowly, steepling her fingers together. "And it is good not to put too much stock into the cards. After all, sometimes believing too much in Fate creates a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Naruto forced another laugh as he nodded, and slowly backed away. "Uh... thanks for the fortune reading Miss Mio... I'll see ya." He said with false cheer, and moved out the door, closing it with barely concealed haste.

After a few moments of walking, he ran the rest of the way back to the Cat Café.

"Naruto Uzumaki... I'll have to watch that one." Mio murmured, and glanced over the cards.

"Great changes are about to begin... but what kind, I wonder?"

* * *

Author's Notes

I am an idiot. That was my mistake for not looking at Chapter 182 of the manga. Shino actually _was_ on a mission with his father, as mentioned by Kiba. Still, that fact doesn't change anything in the story, so it's unimportant, but thanks for pointing it out.

Now, onto another issue. Or rather, an old issue.

Power levels. Specifically, Ranma's power level this time around. Look, I don't care how badass you think he is. I've determined his power level for this story, and that's it. No amount of "Ranma's way cooler than that, and his techniques are so 1337!" will change my opinions. In all actuality, I think people are overplaying a lot of Ranma's abilities in the fandom today. Most of the older (and usually better) stories in the Ranma ½ fandom don't show the same Uber!Ranma that the newer ones do. The same policy goes for any other character.

So stop leaving reviews that only talk about power levels. I'm not going to change the power levels.

Secondly. There's the matter of my listing techniques, since this has come up. Okay, most people are not going to need a glossary or translation for Kage Bunshin- but sometimes, the descriptions of the technique in the writing aren't enough. If it bothers you, then there's always the option that move down to skip it. I'm mostly doing it about the Ranma ½ techniques, since some people might not be totally familiar with them.

Finally, on Mio, since even people familiar with Ranma ½ might no know her. Mio is one of those one episode characters. But her role as a fortune teller was just too interesting for me to pass up.

... I hate leaving long author's notes. I really do. Please don't make me address more issues.


	9. Chapter 9 One Step Forward

"_Problems are the price of progress. Don't bring me anything but trouble. Good news weakens me."_

_-Charles F. Kettering _

Chapter 9

One Step Forward

Shopping, she decided, would be an adequate way to spend today. After all, with two new boarders at home- who were _paying_- she could be a little more wanton with the cash earned from various bets and gambling circuits she ran.

In other words- it was time to spoil herself.

As she walked through the downtown district, however, she was distracted by something.

Specifically, a series of flyers, tacked to a telephone pole. Curious- it could have money involved, after all- she took one, and read it.

As her eyes scanned the page, an amused smirk slowly worked its way across her face.

"Interesting," Nabiki murmured.

"Very interesting."

Perhaps shopping could wait...

---

Ukyo Kuonji was absolutely, positively _miserable._

Now this in itself was particularly odd. Ukyo, after all, was well known to be cute, spunky, and, although tomboyish, and all around quite cheery girl. Many a customer had come to her restaurant and felt their spirits lightened by her warm smile.

Not so today.

The seldom used "We're Closed" sign was hanging from the door, at a time of day when Ucchan's Okonomiyaki was usually hitting full swing in terms of customers.

Anyone who dared knock upon the door was given a harsh "We're closed, read the sign damn it!" for their bravery.

No, it was not a good time to come to the vicinity around Ukyo Kuonji.

Of course, there is a certain person who wouldn't know who didn't know that, and, who frankly, was probably unaware he was in the vicinity of Tokyo, much less Ukyo.

"Excuse me... could you please tell me the way to-" Ryoga Hibiki began quietly, still depressed, but was promptly and violently cut off by a barrage of spatulas and an accompanying berating.

"WE'RE CLOSED! READ THE GODDAMN SIGN!"

Ryoga ducked the spatulas, blinking as he did so. "Ukyo?" he said blankly.

Ukyo looked up from her lukewarm cup of tea, her eyes dulled. "Oh. Ryoga." She said quietly. She briefly considered trying to kick him out- but remembering that Ryoga was in love with Akane made her reconsider. "Did you know about Ranma and Akane?"

Ryoga made a violent shuddering. "Don't talk about that. I'm trying to burn that horrible image from my mind," he replied tersely, fists shaking as he remembered Ranma's head in Akane's _lap._

The image was banished and cursed to the fiery reaches of the netherworld.

"Come on in then. We can be miserable together," Ukyo waved her hand tiredly, motioning him inside. She didn't know him all that well, but Ryoga was someone who she knew was in the same sorts as her. Besides, he was better company than Shampoo, Mousse, or the Kuno siblings.

Ryoga considered the offer. Ukyo was a kind of friend to him- she had helped him try to win Akane over on a few occasions, and was a pretty friendly person overall.

And right now, he really needed a friend.

"Alright."

---

Sasuke's delivery, unlike Naruto's, included no fuss and definitely no ominous fortune telling. However, as he handed the ramen over to the delighted young man, he felt a sudden surge of pain from his abdominal area.

_That guy..._ Sasuke thought angrily, refusing to make more than a wince as he left the house. Taijutsu so fast his body couldn't react?

Still... perhaps it wasn't a complete waste of time.

With a smirk, Sasuke punched the air in front of him, his entire arm becoming little more than a blur. It wasn't as fast as Ranma's own Chestnut Fist, but the actual technique itself was simple. All it required was some extra speed training to master.

Sasuke pondered his predicament. As always, he was willing to put up with anything to grow stronger- this place, filled with people who had such skilled Taijutsu, was certainly worth looking into, at least until he could return to his own world.

He doubted that Ranma would teach him any techniques willingly, so some self training was in order. And though ninjutsu was also something that this world seemed to lack, there was still one more thing to consider...

His Sharingan had matured at last. Full maturity now, meaning that the advanced genjutsu of Sharingan was open to him at last. Thankfully, Sasuke had already read through all the family scrolls on Sharingan, and memorized a few genjutsu that an Uchiha could learn even without outside training.

Absorbing and learning as much as he could, defeating Ranma and anyone else who was of some skill here, and of course, finishing the fight with Naruto. His priorities crystalized in that moment.

With a new frame of mind, Sasuke walked off, wearing a dangerous smirk.

---

"Here's some tea. They say it goes well with sympathy," Ukyo said quietly, holding two cups of steaming hot green tea, having thrown her old cup away.

"It's not fair," Ryoga mumbled, taking his cup slowly, setting it down. "I really thought... you know..."

"That Akane and Ranma hated each other?" Ukyo finished, looking into the green depths of her beverage. "Yeah."

"But that look she had..." Ryoga made a strangled growl of rage, his fists clenching and unclenching in rapid cycles. "Toward _Ranma_..." the venom in his voice was thick and poisonous.

Ukyo felt the sudden rise in heavy ki and she scowled, slapping Ryoga upside the head. "Don't blow up my restaurant, idiot."

Ryoga looked down sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh. Sorry. It's... a bad habit." He replied quietly. "But the thought of him and her together..."

"Disgusting." Ukyo agreed, nodding her head wearily.

"Exactly." He said, nodding his head fervently. "I mean, he has the nerve to-"

"Whoa, wait." Ukyo raised her hand, staring at Ryoga with a hard expression. "You're saying this is Ranma's fault? Akane's the one who put _his _head in _her_ lap, buddy."

Ryoga couldn't argue with that- no matter how much he wanted to. "... it's not fair." He said again, quiet and sullen.

"Preaching to the choir." Ukyo murmured, sipping her tea.

---

"Ah! Kagome! I-"

" Sit boy!"

Click.

"-YOU IDIOT!"

"Ouch! Miss Chidori, what did I-"

Click.

"-and now I play my Dark Magici-"

Click.

Cologne sighed, flicking the remote again, her pipe idly leaving a small trail of smoke into the air. "Anime, anime, anime..." she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Where are the soaps..."

It was a quiet day in the Cat Café. Since the lunch hour was over, the store could close up until dinner, when it would reopen to roaring sales once again.

At the moment, Shampoo was still out making another delivery, and Mousse...

Cologne frowned. Actually, she didn't know where Mousse was these days. Always going off on his own, coming back home at unreasonable hours covered in sweat and dirt, looking either frustrated or triumphant.

"Hey! Old ghoul!"

Cologne's ears perked. That sounded like...

"Old ghoul!" Ranma shouted again, stamping his foot impatiently. He had thankfully seen Shampoo leave earlier, allowing him some time to talk to the Amazon matriarch without the need for a glomping.

"Well, well, now this is a nice surprise." Cologne said, bemused as she hopped out of the back room. "What brings you here, son-in-law?"

Ranma swallowed. He hated asking for favors- but he'd be damned if he'd ask his father. Chances were the old geezer would end up teaching him some other useless technique.

"I..." Ranma swallowed again, his fists clenching. "I..."

"Yes?" Cologne asked patiently, arching her eyebrow.

Oh, he loathed this. He would never, ever forgive himself for this.

But then again, the memory of a battle against a _twelve year old_ that was going bad stung even more than that.

The pride of being completely self-reliant.

The pride of being the best fighter in Nerima.

Choices, choices.

_Swallow pride now. Beat the hell out of that Sasuke kid later._

"I need some help." Ranma said quietly.

---

Genma Saotome frowned, his hand hesitating over a piece.

"It's your move, Saotome." Soun Tendo reminded him impatiently, arms crossed as he stared at the shougi board, deep in concentration. After a moment, he realized something was wrong with his old friend. "Saotome? What is it?"

Genma looked up at the other man, a grave look on his face.

"I feel a great disturbance... as though some great ego had swelled up and protested as loud as it could ... and then suddenly faded away."

---

"We are pathetic." Ukyo declared, swirling the green tea in her hand with a somber look.

Ryoga's pride flared for a moment, but depression won out over ego, and he nodded in a subdued manner.

"Look at us. Sitting here, moping." Ukyo felt a wave of disgust wash over herself, burying the self-pity she had been entrenched in moments ago.

"What should we do?" Ryoga asked distractedly, not really caring about the answer.

"I... don't know." Ukyo looked down again, depression setting back in. It wasn't like Ranma had official chosen Akane- but the moment between them just seemed so _right_ that she would have felt like it would be sacrilege to interfere.

Ryoga really couldn't blame Ukyo- at least she was trying to find a bright side to the situation.

"Did you ever... I mean... did you ever consider the idea of Akane and Ranma actually going through with their marriage?" Ukyo asked haltingly, eyes fixated upon her tea.

"In my nightmares." Ryoga replied darkly.

"I didn't." Ukyo admitted softly. "I... really did think I would get him. But the way she looked at him..." Ukyo knew the heartache and pain of being abandoned - inflicting something even worse upon Akane, someone she considered a friend despite the giant obstacle known as Ranma between them, was utterly abhorrent to her.

"Are you saying we should give up?" Ryoga demanded, fist slamming against the table and shaking the tea, his voice angry and scared, all at once.

Ukyo was quiet for a while. When she spoke, it was the voice of quiet resignation, like a conquered warrior admitting final defeat. "Maybe we should consider it..." Ukyo murmured, her voice slowly picking up volume, if not strength, "I, for one, do not want to suddenly find myself broken hearted and left alone."

Ryoga fought the sensibility of her words- and common sense was a foe he had triumphed against many a time.

After all, this is Ryoga Hibiki, the only man to ever start a vendetta against someone over _bread._

Yet... yet today, today was not the heat of battle and he was not facing Ranma, who could drive him into a rage with only a taunt.

Logic had checkmated Ryoga.

"... me neither." Ryoga whispered.

---

"WHAT WAS THAT!"

Kodachi Kuno, only daughter of the Kuno estate, and the only person more delusional (yes, it is possible) than her brother, Tatewaki Kuno, was in a fine state of utter _fury._

The family ninja (who was, quite possibly, the most inept ninja ever _born_), Sasuke, cowered before the female of the household. "The report is true... even Master Kuno has verified it."

Verified, in this household, translated to flying into a generally nonsensical rant about the "vile sorceror Saotome" and "black magic" and generally other such deus ex machina that Tatewaki Kuno used to explain things that his psyche could not accept.

Kodachi's first impulse was, as with many Martial Artists in Nerima, to go on a rampage.

She reconsidered when she remembered a few of her pet projects. Simply killing Akane Tendo might irritate her brother- therefore, perhaps by hook and by crook, not assassination, would Kodachi obtain her ultimate goal.

"Wait for me, Ranma darling! Soon I will wrest you from the clutches of that vile Tendo!"

---

"Thanks for listening." Ukyo said quietly, smiling slightly as she looked up at her comrade in heartache.

"You're welcome." Ryoga replied, still looking rather downcast. He stood up, pushing his chair as he did so. "I'd better get going then."

"Where?" Ukyo asked curiously. "You know, come to think of it... I don't think anyone knows where you live, Ryoga..."

Ryoga felt a cold sweat coming on. _That_ question was not one he wanted to answer... "Uh..."

Ukyo rolled her eyes, leaning deep into her chair. "Fine, fine, keep your secrets." She muttered, slightly annoyed that he was holding something so trivial back after their heart-to-heart.

"But... well, you know..." Ukyo coughed, and smiled, her face full of grateful sincerity. "If you ever want to talk, my door's always open. We gotta stick together, don't we?"

Ryoga smiled at that.

"I guess we do."

---

"So Sasuke's eyes can predict your movements, eh?" Cologne murmured contemplatively, idly blowing a smoke ring into the air. "Well, that's an interesting development."

"His eyes... they changed." Ranma said quietly, fists clenched unconsciously. "They turned red... with three black markings in his eye."

"Never heard of such a thing." The Amazon matriarch noted, curiosity piqued. After three hundred years of life, developments such as this were of concern and great interest.

"Wait. What!" Ranma shouted, standing up from his chair and staring at the small figure before him with a demanding look. "But you know everything!"

"I know a lot, idiot." Cologne corrected, still composed as she sent more rings to drift into the atmosphere. "But techniques that let you blow fire out of your mouth without any help? Create solid clones of yourself? Eyes that can predict movement?" she made a loud snort. "That's something new altogether."

"Great. Just great. You're no help then." Ranma muttered, throwing his hands in the air in defeat. He turned to leave.

"That doesn't mean I don't know techniques which will give you an edge against those boys."

Ranma froze. This time, his pride stayed silent.

"What's the catch?" he asked suspiciously. New techniques or not, he was not going to play into Cologne's scheming.

Cologne gave a low chuckle. "No catch this time." While the thought of Ranma married to Shampoo, strengthening their bloodline made her positively ecstatic, coercing him was difficult without serious leverage. And new techniques were not nearly enough to entice him- chances were, Ranma would simply find techniques on his own.

"You couldn't possibly think I'd let my son-in-law's position as the best fighter in Nerima be usurped, did you?"

Besides... offering him some techniques was incentive for him to abandon the Anything Goes Martial Art and train with her permanently... and the way to make that arrangement permanent was marriage to Shampoo.

"You promise?" Ranma was unconvinced.

Cologne rolled her eyes, tapping her pipe against the table, letting the ashes fall away.

"On my honor as an Amazon warrior."

Ranma could understand that sort of promise, and with a reluctant look, he nodded.

Cologne smiled, a full, teething smile. "Then let's get started."

---

There was a nagging feeling pressing into him, an irritation that was most unwelcome.

Kakashi didn't like this, not at all. Yuki had used water to hide his scent, meaning that Kakashi was forced to depend on other signs- snapped twigs, traces of chakra, and other such small disturbances. The readings were less accurate and slowed the search down longer than he would have liked.

As it was, the Copy Ninja and his quarry were probably only a day at most away from Rice Field Country. If the missing nin managed to escape there, then the mission would grow much more complicated.

The fact that Yuki had abandoned the battle so early also gave Kakashi some pause.

Was the Mist missing nin afraid of him? It didn't seem likely, given the younger man's cold disposition.

Perhaps running the risk of being killed was simply not an idea Yuki was willing to face.

The possibilities were many.

Frowning, Kakashi idly rechecked his mental map of the area. The terrain around here was growing less and less wild, the animals that filled the hearts of the forest growing more and more scarce.

There was a border town up ahead, from the looks of it.

The Copy Ninja halted, pausing to examine the ground. The bent grass, the imprints on the dirt- tracks, heading straight for the town.

Kakashi didn't like this at all.

---

"HYAH!" Sakura's fist collided solidly with the pole as she expelled chakra simultaneous with the impact.

The wood shuddered and cracked, but didn't break.

Sakura pulled her fist back, wincing at the splinters that were piercing into the raw skin. Part of her wanted to surrender- the damage her fist inflicted on the wood was nothing compared to the backlash on her own hand.

She gritted her teeth.

No.

No more backing down.

"KYAH!" Sakura swung her fist out, putting her whole weight and as much chakra as she could behind the attack.

The result was progress- but painful progress.

The pole shattered into a burst of splinters- which slammed into Sakura's head, slicing into the skin, turning red, raw skin into a bloody mess.

Sakura made an involuntary scream, falling backwards, holding her hand tightly, wincing, eyes shut tight so as not to let the tears she was holding back show.

"I did it," she breathed, a short, pained gasp that sounded more defeated than triumphant.

"That you did." Tsunade's voice was pleasantly amused as she stared down at her apprentice. When her eyes caught the bleeding, raw hand that Sakura was currently holding, she clucked her tongue. "Maybe you overdid it a bit, huh?"

She moved her hand over the younger kunoichi's, and a green glow appeared. In a matter of moments, the cuts and raw, irritated skin was replaced with smooth, undamaged skin.

"Thank you." Sakura said gratefully, rubbing her hand unconsciously.

Tsunade merely gave her a grunt, silently appraising her apprentice once again. Her attacks had little force to them for now- but the technique was otherwise perfect.

The only problem now was her hands...

Which could be solved.

"Here." Tsunade said quietly, handing Sakura a pair of tight, black gloves. "I found your size in your medical records."

Sakura took the gloves slowly, giving the Hokage a questioning glance. "I don't understand, Tsunade-sama."

"In the field, we can't have a medic-nin's hands being filthy when you operate. These will help in that regard. What's more... your hands look like they could use a bit of protection." Tsunade said wryly, earning an embarrassed blush from the younger kunoichi. "Even better, these particular gloves are special- they'll help you focus your chakra, to an extent."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Sakura bowed deeply, truly grateful.

Tsunade made a low grunt, waving her hand in dismissal. "Keep it up. You're making progress." With that, she turned away, leaving her apprentice to her own devices.

Sakura stared at the gloves for a moment. Slowly, hesitantly, she pulled the first one onto her hand, feeling the material crack and flex to fit her hand into a tight, snug fit.

The material continued to crack as she clenched her hand into a fist. Suddenly, in a blur, Sakura swung out against another training pole.

This one too, shattered- but Sakura barely felt it, her glove protecting her hand from the fallout of the attack.

Sakura smiled.

She liked these gloves.

---

The bad feeling only increased when Kakashi arrived in the town.

Empty street.

Bad sign.

His single open eye locked onto a few spatters of crimson on the dusty road.

Hairs began to stand on the back of his neck.

Casually, in a manner belying his trepidation, Kakashi removed his forehead protector, revealing the Sharingan slowly.

"I see your talents are not limited to combat, but tracking as well, Sharingan Kakashi." Yuki's voice rang out, coldly bemused.

Kakashi took the moment to scan the area, Sharingan sweeping over everything in sight. "I suppose you're the reason why this town is suspiciously empty." He said loudly, keeping his eyes moving.

"That I am." Yuki appeared then, walking down the street with a slow, measured stride.

An unreadable look crossed the missing nin's face.

"I killed them all."

Kakashi didn't have time to dwell on that horrifying fact at the moment, moving slowly, imperceptibly, into a crouch. "And why, exactly, did you feel the need to do that?" he asked measuredly.

Yuki's corpse-like eyes stared out at him like a statue's. "I failed to kill you, and was forced to retreat. Therefore... I killed these people instead." His voice was brutally apathetic.

Kakashi waited, opting to play the banter game for a little while longer. Psychological armament was always useful. "Why? To prove your existence? For revenge?" the Copy Ninja had heard them all before in his line of work.

Yuki's lip curled into something that might have been a smile on anyone else's face, at any other time. "Nothing so... _grandiose._" He said, sneering. "I kill because I can." His shoulders shrugged and his eyes seemed empty. "The Mist killed us because they feared us, because they had the _power _to do so. And so I do the same."

_Great. I get the sociopath with the ability to control water._ Kakashi frowned inwardly. His ANBU missions had dealt with these things regularly- but he hadn't been ANBU in a long while.

Yuki's eyes narrowed. "Sensatsu Suisho!"

Immediately, Kakashi leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the rain of razor sharp ice needles that stabbed into the air where he had once been.

A barrage of shuriken was the Copy Ninja's counterattack, which whistled through the air with deadly accuracy.

Yuki avoided the attack, and in a flash his ornate dagger was in his hand. "Koori no Yaiba!" immediately, the air became noticeably cooler, as the moisture in the air froze with solid cracks around the dagger, forming a long, katana shape.

In a matter of moments, the ice sword was finished and Yuki was on the offensive.

As the blade came down, Kakashi was already pulling back, giving himself some good distance before moving into a set of seals. "Doton: Retsudotensho!" with that, he slammed his palm into the ground.

With a loud rumble, ground beneath Yuki shot upward, the earth twisting around the missing nin's body as dirt fell away. The rock closed upon the missing nin with crushing force.

There was no crunch of broken bones. Kakashi's eyes narrowed as water ran down the sides of the rock. _Another water clone..._

A breeze behind him caught the Copy Ninja's attention and he twisted, removing a kunai just in time to block Yuki's ice sword.

The chill from the blade still sent a sharp spike of pain through his hand and Kakashi winced, pushing the Mist missing nin backwards.

Yuki pulled backwards, and then closed the gap again, slashing quickly.

The Copy Ninja sidestepped the slicing motion, bringing his kunai to bear, aiming for the missing nin's throat.

Yuki arched his neck backwards, narrowly avoiding having his throat slit. Kakashi's eyes widened.

A second later, the Mist missing nin slammed a brutal boot kick into the Copy Ninja's torso, sending the gray haired ninja backwards, wincing.

Kakashi felt the shade of the wall behind him, frowning as Yuki came at him in a series of blurring slashes, the chill of the frozen sword washing over his body. He twisted and turned, avoiding each slash expertly, hearing the sword slice deep into the wall behind him.

The Copy Ninja crouched low, avoiding a whistling beheading slash, and then sprang forward, slamming his knee into the other shinobi's stomach.

Yuki glared as he staggered backwards, holding his stomach in one hand, and using the other to keep his blade in a ready position, to ward off Kakashi.

Kakashi flicked his hand, tossing a kunai at the Mist missing nin's head.

Yuki ducked his head, avoiding the blade easily, and sprang forward with a powerful forward thrust.

The Copy Ninja sidestepped the attack and snapped his leg out in a vicious crescent kick, slamming his foot into the side his opponent's skull with a resounding thud.

Yuki was flung backward, into the wall with a particularly nasty crunch. The Mist missing nin staggered to his feet, glaring before coming forward in a blur, slashing down, to the side, and then down again, a series of lightning flashes off of the mirror-glass ice was all one could see.

Kakashi flung himself from side to side, dodging to strikes, but the final one sliced into his shoulder, flinging a bit of frozen blood upon the ground, like glittering rubies. The wound felt bitingly cold, with only a few traces of liquid blood running down his arm.

Yuki smirked, lunging forward again.

Kakashi staggered backwards, throwing himself in reverse to avoid another series of blurring strikes. The Copy Ninja crouched low, avoiding a high sweeping slash, and counterattacked with a vicious uppercut to the chin.

The enemy shinobi staggered backwards drunkenly, glaring.

"This is the end." Kakashi said quietly, wiping his thumb against his shoulder wound, covering it in blood.

Yuki's eyes widened as Kakashi's open palm slammed into the ground.

"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!"

---

Tsunade watched the five boys- _men_, she corrected- walking through her door, and awarded them one of the few smiles she could stand to give these days.

She looked into each of their eyes in turn.

Chouji Akamichi looked ragged and pale and far too thin. His features were oddly handsome still, but he looked sickly, like a dying man. Despite his appearance, he put up what tried to be a sunny smile.

Shikamaru glanced at his friend worriedly, never straying more than a foot away. It was as though he was afraid that Chouji would suddenly be gone in a second if he wasn't watching. Aside from the worry cloud that created the furrowed look upon the chuunin, he looked in the best shape physically.

Kiba Inuzuka simply looked happy to be out of the hospital room, but on occasion, stroked the back of Akamaru's ears idly, but persistently, as though reassuring himself that his companion was still there.

Neji Hyuuga, as always, looked stoic, like a handsomely crafted statue, his aristocratic features befitting that of his Hyuuga heritage.

Rock Lee was smiling, the most chipper of the group, but even the enthusiastic taijutsu specialist seemed rather worn down.

But there was one more missing.

_Naruto._

A pained look crossed her face for a split second, before returning to a calm, placid expression.

Only Neji noticed, and he wasn't one to speak of such things.

"I'm glad to see you've all returned safely." Were her first words, sounding oddly formal- after all, she'd seen each of them multiple times, individually. "First of all..." Tsunade bit her lip tightly, before she released it, not wanting to draw blood, "Let me apologize. Even if the Leaf is currently low on resources, sending a genin team on a mission against unknown enemies from the Sound was a poor decision on my part."

Tsunade swallowed, her throat tight. "I'm sorry."

"We came out of it okay, didn't we?" Kiba protested, crossing his arms. "And I'll bet you anything Naruto's fine too- probably goofing off somewhere." The joke earned a few chuckles all around, even from Neji.

Believing in Naruto's invincible "never say die" attitude was reassuring.

Tsunade curled her lip slightly, smiling. "That you did. I think I owed you that apology, however." She coughed slightly, and folded her hands, elbows straight up on the desk, staring at them seriously. "Now, give me a full account of what happened."

They talked; Shikamaru went first, giving an overview of how this rather mismatched team came together, briefly mentioning Naruto's "promise of a lifetime" (Tsunade made note to ask Sakura about that in the future). Then Chouji spoke, who gave a full account of his battle, and then Neji who did the same, then Kiba, then Shikamaru once again, with Rock Lee capping off the discussion.

Tsunade smiled slightly, staring at each of them with a hint of pride shining in her eyes. _**This** is why I chose to Hokage of the Leaf. To guide those who will shape our future... strong souls like these four young men._

"First of all, let me say that you have done Konoha a service above and beyond anything you ever needed to do. Furthermore..." Tsunade shuffled around her for a large folder. This particular folder was extremely important- it contained much of the knowledge they had garnered about the Hidden Sound; personnel, numbers, techniques, etc.

"Four of those Sound Nin you defeated...they were spotted around the area where Orochimaru assassinated the Sandaime Hokage. From what we can gather, they are Orochimaru's personal retinue- his favorites." Tsunade explained quietly. "And with what Shikamaru heard, we can assume that the fifth Sound ninja was probably a member of this group as well."

She smiled proudly. "You five overcame tremendous odds and have helped deliver a resounding blow to Orochimaru's forces. On behalf of the Leaf, I thank you." As the five young men responded to her words to varying degrees; Neji and Shikamaru merely nodded politely, while Lee and Kiba responded enthusiastically. Chouji, of course, was the happy medium, looking pleased but not nearly as loudly as Lee or Kiba.

"Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba. You three are dismissed. Get some rest" Tsunade gave them a salutatory nod as they stood, before turning toward the two remaining boys. "Neji, Lee, I need you two to stay."

Both of the boys gave her odd looks, but remained where they were without a word.

After a minute or so, the doorknob turned.

"Hello, Tsunade-sama." Tenten smiled brightly, waving as she came inside, nodding her head briefly to both of her teammates. Tsunade gave her a polite nod in return.

"Now that you're assembled, I have something to discuss with you." Tsunade began, folding her hands above her desk, resting her chin atop her fingers. "Because of this recent mission, the current genin teams who are best able for a mission are Kurenai's team and your own."

"What sort of mission, Hokage-sama?" Neji asked politely, his expression meditative.

"A B-Class reconaissance mission." Tsunade replied, causing the three younger ninja to pause, absorbing her words.

"No offense, Hokage-sama, but shouldn't Kurenai-sensei's team tackle a reconaissance mission?" Tenten questioned curiously, leaning forward. "After all, their team specializes in tracking and scouting. We're a hand-to-hand combat unit."

"True enough," Tsunade acquiesced, nodding her head. "However, you three currently posses a greater level of experience and combat skill than that of Team Eight." The Godaime's expression turned grave. "Those will come in handy for your mission, which will pay as a full combat mission regardless of enemy contact."

"What's our objective?" Neji asked. If their combat skills were a major factor in being chosen for the mission, odds were that there was a chance of enemy ninja.

"Rice Field Country." Tsunade said levelly.

Tenten and Lee gasped, and even Neji's eyes widened. "But Hokage-sama! That's-" Lee protested, but the Godaime cut him off.

"Orochimaru's home base, yes, I'm aware of that. However," Tsunade paused, as if considering something, "... this knowledge is not to leave the room. As you are no doubt aware, Naruto Uzumaki, along with Sasuke Uchiha, are currently missing in action."

The members of Team Gai nodded, with Lee grimacing and Neji frowning.

"There are currently pressures within the Hidden Leaf that wish to declare both Naruto and Uchiha as missing ninja and dispatch a hunter-nin to deal with them." Tsunade admitted, her voice terse and annoyed.

It was partly true, but also part fabrication.

It was true that there were people advocating for the branding of both genin as traitors and that their deaths were absolutely necessary and needed to be dealt with immediately.

But it wasn't Sasuke that they were mainly pushing for, first off. He was off a lesser concern. Secondly, that singular hunter-nin was actually more along the lines of a team of ANBU sent to dispatch the Kyubi.

"That's too much!" Lee protested angrily, clenching his fists in rage. "Naruto would never abandon the Hidden Leaf!"

Tenten nodded her agreement. She didn't know the hyperactive blonde personally, but if he was strong and _good_ enough to change someone like Neji for the better, there was no way he'd betray the Leaf. Sasuke perhaps, but...

Neji didn't make an outburst, save for the tightness on his lips, and the dark look that crossed his eyes. He owed Naruto Uzumaki a lot, and was not about to let the blonde be murdered by his own village.

"I'm well aware of where Naruto's loyalties lie, Lee." Tsunade said lightly, waving her hand. "As Uchiha's last known destination was the Hidden Sound, I need you three to penetrate the borders of the Hidden Sound and attempt to find some, if any, evidence that Naruto or Sasuke are within Rice Field Country. The Council needs evidence for the dispatch of a hunter nin, and I personally have an interest in where those boys have gone."

"So, it would actually be best for us to _not_ find them in Rice Field, then." Neji gathered, raising a single, regal eyebrow.

"Correct." Tsunade paused again, weighing her next words.

"Also, from a few more friendly contacts within Rice Field, we have been able to determine the location of an abandoned fortress of Orochimaru's. Chances are he has left nothing useful, but if you are willing..."

"You'd like us to investigate." Neji finished, crossing his arms in contemplation.

Tsunade nodded. "I'm not ordering you to."

"Of course we will!" Lee said loudly, pumping his fist into the air.

"Maybe we should think about this Lee..." Tenten tugged on his arm, looking cautious. "After all, this is _Orochimaru's _fortress..."

"I'll let you three decide. Neji," Tsunade said, her gaze resting upon the Hyuuga, "You will be team leader for this mission. I'll entrust it to you to make the right decisions."

Neji gave her a crisp nod. "Understood."

The Hokage gazed at each of them in turn with a hard, measuring look. After a moment, her gaze softened.

"Good luck, and stay alive."

---

Kakashi panted harshly, sweat dripping from his body.

Yuki panted, equally harsh, his gaze overwhelmingly hateful, even as Kakashi's summoned ninja dogs bit into his arms and legs, pinning him in place.

"Your body has been disabled, and you can no longer use any techniques." Kakashi said breathlessly, his shoulder burning with burning coldness. "This battle is over."

Without waiting for a response, his hands moved through a set of self-created seals, before his left hand grabbed his right, directly at the wrist.

It began to glow, and the eerie sounds of birds chirping filled the air.

"Chidori!"

---

It was quiet, Sasuke thought, walking along the street, hands in his pockets, finished with his last delivery of the day.

Sasuke liked quiet. It gave him some serenity, if not peace. It let him think.

"Sasuke!"

... It meant Naruto was nowhere in the vicinity.

An orange-blonde blur jumped down from the rooftop of a nearby residence to land in front of the Uchiha. "You finished too?" Naruto asked, grinning sunnily.

A little _too _sunnily.

"What the Hell's up with you?" Sasuke drawled, arching his eyebrow. "You're even more annoying than normal."

Naruto laughed- again, just a little too hard. "What! Nothing's wrong!" his voice kicked an octave up for a moment, before descending back down. "Why would anything be wrong?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He muttered, continuing on his way, with the blonde keeping pace, neither one saying a word- which was disturbingly out of character for Naruto.

Finally however, Naruto broke the silence. "Do you think there's a way for us to get home?" he asked, his voice quiet and withdrawn.

It disturbed Sasuke more than he cared to admit, because Naruto was _never_ quiet and withdrawn. It took him a moment to answer. "... it's possible." He murmured, staring straight ahead.

"Maybe we should ask someone." Naruto said dubiously.

Sasuke turned, looking at the blonde critically. "And who, exactly, should we ask?"

---

"A way to cross back over to your world, huh?" Cologne said thoughtfully, puffing on her pipe. It was amusing just how many people were coming to seek her advice today. "Now that's an interesting question."

"Do you know of a way, or don't you?" Sasuke asked rudely, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"Patience. I'm old, after all." Cologne chided, breathing in and exhaling out smoke once again. "Well... there might have been one, but-"

"What is it?" Naruto asked loudly, excitedly leaning forward out of his chair.

"It was a magic mirror. It could take someone to any time and any place." Cologne explained. "In theory, it could take you back to your world."

"Alright! So all we have to do is get this magic mirror thing, and we're back home!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist into the air exuberantly.

"Just one problem." Cologne's voice was dry and obviously bemused.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What?" he demanded, stepping away from the wall.

Cologne chuckled. "Well, two really. Number one, it's Happosai's."

"WHAT!" Naruto shouted, eyes bulging out of his sockets as he stared at the Amazon. "That old pervert!"

"Yes." Cologne replied, nodding her head. "But there's a bigger problem than that..." she breathed out a large, gray cloud of smoke, as if to obscure the horizon.

"It's broken."

---

"I'm surprised you managed to move in time." Kakashi said evenly, pulling his hand free from Yuki's chest. "But you underestimated the speed of my Chidori. Even if you were able to move a little, my Chidori still struck your lung. You'll be dead in a matter of moments."

The Mist missing ninja fell to the ground with a soft thump, swirls of dust moved by his fall. He made soft groaning noises, but otherwise remained still.

The hole in his chest was clean- the flesh sterilized by the energy of the Chidori all around the gaping void in his torso where a lung should have been.

"Mission complete." Kakashi muttered, and shook his hand once, scattering the blood. Without another word, he turned and left, sprinting off back to Konoha.

Unnoticed, in the shadows nearby alleyway, another man moved as well.

"Well, well, well..." Kabuto murmured, pushing his glasses up his nose, smiling all the while.

"This could prove interesting."

---

"Broken!" Naruto and Sasuke demanded, nearly in unison, though neither one noticed.

Cologne nodded. "That's right."

"Well there's got to be a way to fix it, isn't there!" Naruto said loudly, his voice filled with urgent panic as he gestured widely. "I mean, don't you have magic tape or something to fix it? Or a backup magic mirror? Anything?"

Cologne tapped her pipe thoughtfully, letting the ashes fall to the floor. "Well... in the Amazon village- my village- there is a family of blacksmiths whose ancestors forged the mirror. If anyone might be able to help you, it would be them."

Naruto sighed, relieved. Sasuke did too, but it was less noticeable.

"So, where is this family?" Sasuke asked, still feeling that this was all far too easy.

The universe, of course, proved Sasuke right.

"China, of course."

---

There are times when people need to make a change, to speak out and tell the world that the status quo cannot be, that change must occur or else the stagnant road to annihilation is assured.

This is the time.

This is Hinata Hyuuga's time.

So she went to the place where her own change must occur.

After all, change must occur within the home, if nowhere else. And change within the Hyuuga Clan came from few but the Clan Head himself- Hiashi.

So she steeled her courage, gathered her resolve, and walked right up to her father's personal quarters, where her father was undoubtably meditating.

Hinata swallowed once. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Listen, Hiashi."

Her mouth snapped shut, and her mouth set itself in a worried line. People in her father's personal quarters? If it was important enough for it to be this private even from the Clan...

"We all know that this is the best time to strike. We can end this threat now." The voice was old, but filled with strong, burning conviction and urgency.

"Surely, you must see this as we do." Another, wizened voice urged. "After all, was not your own nephew defeated by him?"

Hinata bit back a gasp, lest she be exposed. _Could they be talking about-_

"Are you suggesting I invest myself in this venture because of some petty vendetta?" Hiashi's voice was sardonic and biting, obviously not amused by the attempts at persuasion. "Do not insult me."

"Hiashi, see reason. It is in everyone's interest that we deal with this now." The first voice interjected. "Even the Godaime cannot overturn the full weight of the Council, and the Hyuuga are the most respected voice among us."

"I will think on it." Hiashi's voice was terse and cold. "Good day."

Hinata gasped, hearing the sound of cloth rustling and footsteps toward the door. Panic settled in her system and her breath quickened-

And a hand grasped hers, pulling her aside into another hallway before she could react.

Hinata turned to meet the stoic silvery eyes of her cousin. "Neji-niisan!" she whispered, but he shushed her quickly, releasing her hand.

Two older, graying males walked on by, their faces stern and irritable. Thankfully, they looked straight ahead, seemingly content to whisper amongst themselves.

A few steps behind them, Hiashi walked, arms folded into the sleeves of his green kimono, mouth carved into a tight, contemplative frown. After a moment, he spoke. "Neji. Hinata. Come out."

Hinata blanched, blushing at the thought of being caught eavesdropping by her father, but Neji seemed unaffected, and tapped Hinata on the shoulder, urging her forward.

"Inside." Hiashi said curtly, turning away.

Hinata bowed her head and followed the command meekly, Neji walking beside her, his own head bowed respectfully.

When they were inside, Hiashi shut the door with a hard, resounding snap. "So, what brings the both of you to my door at this hour?" he asked, sitting himself down across from his niece and daughter.

"You first, Hinata-sama." Neji said quietly, stepping backwards.

Hinata turned toward him, startled. "But-", she began to protest, before resigning herself. Steeling her courage, she turned towards the Hyuuga Head.

"Father... I want you to train me again!" her voice began low, but picked up strength and volume as it went along, like a boulder that had finally gone down its hill. "I know I'm weak... but I'll try hard, I swear! I won't let you down again!"

Hiashi studied his daughter guardedly, carefully, his eyes seemingly tearing through her every defense, studying her every flaw and criticizing her every mistake.

Finally, he spoke.

"My time as Clan Head and Hanabi's training take priority." Hiashi said stiffly, sternly. "I cannot spend my time rectifying your substandard fighting ability."

Hinata bowed her head, and she shrunk into herself, eyes beginning to sting. She felt small, so very small...

"However, teaching is often the best way to find errors in one's own education." Hiashi finished, and his voice contained a touch of humor, before his head turned toward his nephew. "Neji. From now on you will have one on one training sessions with Hinata."

Neji straightened, nodding his head crisply as he stared his uncle dead in the eyes.

"Good." Hiashi nodded back. "I expect her performance to improve sharply by the Chuunin Exams at the end of the year. Do not fail me."

Hinata's throat was tight. "F-father..." she whispered, and his gaze actually softened as it rested upon her, "Thank you."

"You are my daughter. Let no one else tell you anything different." Hiashi said warmly, and smiled kindly at her- the first time he had done so in perhaps nearly a decade. After another moment, the smile fell away and he turned toward Neji. "Now, Neji. Why do you need to visit me at this hour?"

Neji straightened himself again, remembering his own purpose for needing to speak with his uncle. "Hiashi-sama. The Hokage has assigned me a mission that requires me to leave Konoha."

"Where?" Hiashi asked levelly, gazing at the young prodigy of his clan.

"Rice Field Country."

Hinata gasped.

Hiashi stiffened. "I see." He said, and nothing else.

"I will depart in the morning." Neji said quietly, and bowed deeply. "Good night, Hiashi-sama, Hinata-sama."

As he left the room, Hinata stood as well. As she moved to leave, however, she remembered the conversation she overheard.

"Father... forgive me, but what were those men talking about?" she asked shyly, gazing at her father curiously.

Hiashi made no movements and his face changed little, but still, Hinata felt that she had crossed some invisible boundary. "Never you mind, Hinata. Just the idle talk of old men." Hiashi replied flatly. "Now rest."

Hinata, knowing that she could push her father no further, acquiesced and left.

---

In a small, wooded clearing in the outskirts of Tokyo...

It looked like someone had up and grabbed a medieval armory and proceeded to dump it all out, and then toss in every chain link in the dungeon for good measure.

And standing, looking ragged and dirty and exhausted, was a lone, spectacled young man in Chinese robes.

Mousse panted harshly, falling hard onto his back, though careful not to fall on any of his weapons. He looked up at the star strewn sky, free from any light pollution.

"Just like home." He breathed, smiling a little, indulging in nostalgia.

It had been a good day.

"Tomorrow... I'm going to put all of this to the test." Mousse murmured, chest rising and falling as his breath evened out.

"Shampoo will be so happy..."

He smiled widely.

"Tomorrow... I'll get you, Ranma Saotome... this time for sure."

---

"Happosai's magic mirror?" Ranma said quietly, his voice muffled through a mouth full of food, "Yeah, I remember it." He swallowed hard, forcing down the large mass of food he had jammed in his mouth as he glanced at Naruto, who had asked him about the mirror.

Across the table, Sasuke wrinkled his nose at Ranma's eating habits. Akane showed her displeasure with an elbow to the ribs, to which Ranma glared at her right back.

Kasumi merely ate sedately, while her father, Genma, and Happosai ate voraciously. Nabiki, of course, listened in on Ranma and Naruto's conversation with interest.

"It got broken a while back and no one's really thought about it since, though." Ranma shrugged. "I guess the old freak still has it." He said, jerking his head toward the troll-like figure on the opposite end of the table, who was looking at them thoughtfully.

"The old lady said we could fix it if we went to China." Naruto said dubiously.

Ranma snorted. "Unless you've got a lot of money or can swim across an entire ocean, you don't have a chance." He remarked arrogantly. "Trust me, I know."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply.

"P-Chan!" Akane squealed, standing, looking absolutely joyous as she lunged forward, capturing a small black object in her sweeping arms.

"A pig?" Sasuke said blankly. Naruto wasn't as shocked- after all, Tsunade had a pet pig too.

The pig in question was really more of a piglet- its entire body was jet black, except for the whites of its eyes and the yellow, black spotted bandana it wore around its neck.

Sasuke frowned. He could have sworn he'd seen that bandana before...

"This is P-Chan! He's my pet pig!" Akane said proudly, holding him under his upper arm pits as she thrust him forward, right in front of Sasuke. Naruto snickered.

Ranma scowled. "Oh great, its P-Chan." He muttered, glaring at the pig with jealous venom. "I didn't hear you come in, Ryoga."

"Ryoga?" Akane said blankly, holding the small black pig against her chest. "Where?"

P-Chan made a few loud squealing noises and growled threateningly at Ranma.

Ranma scowled deeper. "What? You want to fight?" he challenged, glaring deeply at the pig.

P-Chan squealed louder.

Ranma grabbed the pig out of Akane's hands ("Hey! Ranma!") and tossed the swine into the air, once, twice, thrice. After the third, P-Chan squealed loudly and bit down, hard, on Ranma's hand.

The martial artist howled in pain, throwing the pig to the floor. As soon as P-Chan hit the floor, however, he grabbed P-Chan again, holding him at a distance. "No biting." Ranma snarled, glaring at the pig, who glared right back.

"Hey! Hey! Wait, come on! There's got to be a way to get to China!" Naruto said loudly, breaking through the tense glaring contest between Ranma and P-Chan (which, to Sasuke, was utterly ridiculous).

Ranma turned towards the blonde, rolling his eyes and scowling. "I've tried every way, already. Like I said, unless you've got enough money or can swim the ocean, you're not getting to China." He replied scathingly, but Nabiki's voice suddenly cut in.

"Actually... there is a third option." Nabiki's smile was oddly playful, and everyone felt suspicious almost immediately.

Well, almost everyone.

"Really? What!" Naruto asked eagerly.

Nabiki produced a flyer with large, boldly printed words, placing it on the center of the table as everyone leaned in to get a closer look.

She smiled, satisfied as she sat back, watching as Akane read off the words aloud while the rest of those gathered at the table followed along.

"The first ever Grand Tokyo Martial Arts Tournament. All fighting styles from all countries welcome." Akane's eyes swept over the large, emblazoned first line, before scrolling down a bit, "Grand prize includes a first class airline ticket for you and your friends to..."

Naruto's eyes widened.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

Ranma dropped P-Chan.

P-Chan made a loud squeal.

"_China!"

* * *

_

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Sensatsu Suisho (A Thousand Flying Water Needles Of Death)- **Freezes water into the shape of sharp needles, which home in on an opponent from all directions._

_**Doton: Retsudotensho (Earth Release: Split Earth Turn Around Palm)- **The user slams their palm into the ground to control the rocks and earth around them, manipulating the rocks to rise up and crush the opponent. _

_**Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique)**- Summoning several ninja dogs from the ground to grab the opponent, immobilizing them._

_**Chidori (Thousand Birds)-** A-level ninjutsu technique. The user grabs their wrist, and focuses chakra until it becomes visible, usually as blue lightning. It's used as a swift, powerful finishing blow that requires a great deal of speed and the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) to complete. It gets its name from the chirping sound it makes when it strikes. _

Okay, well, as always, something needs to be addressed. I know there's probably a few NaruHina fans in the audience, or at least some Hinata ones. So... let's be clear.

In this story, Hinata is a secondary character. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are more prominent here.

That's not to say I don't like Hinata however, or that she's unimportant.

Hinata will get screen time. She'll have her own fight scenes and unique training and growing up. She IS going to be crucial to the bikochu mission, which is definitely a high point to this story. I'm very much planning on it, in fact.

But she is not a central character to the plot. She is not going to go off and find Naruto and live happily ever after.

Number one, I don't believe in happily ever after. Number two, that's just too damn easy. This is not a NaruHina fic. Hell, this isn't NaruAnybody. This is, first and foremost, a friendship story between Naruto and Sasuke.

By the way, this is not encouragement for any Hinata haters out there to voice their opinion on her. I don't like hating on characters, even more than I hate addressing issues.

Secondly, cross-training is another issue.

There will be training for both Naruto and Sasuke, and characters (a certain Uchiha) will be adapting techniques to suit themselves.

But I'm NOT going to have a Ranma pulling off Kage Bunshin or Ryouga using Katon jutsu. The very idea is so utterly cliche to me that it makes me ill. The Ranma ½ cast are martial artists, not ninja. They fight, they don't kill.

I'm going to show that they can be strong without jutsu, and Naruto and Sasuke will learn that too.

And at last, I've unveiled my favorite part of the story- the tournament.


	10. Chapter 10 A Room Full Of Powder Kegs

"_Sanity in a world of insanity is insane"_

_-Unknown _

Chapter 10

A Room Full Of Powder Kegs

"Grand Tokyo Martial Arts Tournament," Cologne murmured, eyes rolling across the page. Nearby, Mousse and Shampoo leaned over her right and left shoulders, respectively, reading with interest.

Mousse grinned, turning away from the two Amazon women. "What a perfect way to finally crush Saotome!"

Perhaps he could allow a few more days to perfect his techniques, and then he could test them against Ranma before the tournament...

---

"All fighting styles from all countries welcome." Tatewaki Kuno smirked as he read on, finding the words quite appealing. He didn't care much for China, but...

"What a perfect opportunity to prove my might once and for all!" Kuno posed dramatically, swinging his bokken with a satisfied smirk.

Across the estate- so that the two's interactions would be minimal- Kodachi Kuno read her own copy of the flyer, and laughed maniacally.

---

"Prove your mettle against other opponents both local and foreign." Ukyo muttered, idly twirling a spatula in hand. She smiled.

"Sounds like fun!"

---

"Tournament begins in one month." Ranma breathed, smiling widely. _Now I can definitely master those techniques and beat Sasuke up!_

Sasuke's mind was racing with ideas. Most of which involved finding strong opponents, learning their abilities, and defeating them. The ones that didn't were discarded immediately.

Naruto grinned. This was the perfect chance! All he had to do was beat up everyone in the tournament, and he was already halfway back to Konoha!

P-Chan oinked and glared at Ranma, as though intent on beating him with just a glare.

Nabiki smiled, eyes glinting. She could already feel the money in her hands from betting and gambling on this tournament. _It looks like I've got some calls to make._

Happosai was chuckling. Not only were there two more people to play around with in town- now a whole tournament?

He needed to send a few letters... There were quite a few people who might want a shot at this tournament; or more precisely, at, _someone-_ oh, say Ranma...

Akane frowned. Somehow, she got the feeling this tournament was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

---

Naruto grumbled, tossing and turning, the blankets rustling atop his futon in the spare room that the Tendo's were lending to the two lost ninjas. He just couldn't sleep with the knowledge that in a little over a month, he could return home.

What kind of opponents would be there?

Ranma said he'd fight... but who else?

"If you're gonna stay up, could you not bother the rest of us?" Sasuke's dry, irritable voice cut in through his thoughts.

"Eh, shut up, asshole." Naruto scowled, turning his head toward the other boy, who slept across the room.

"You're thinking about the tournament, aren't you?" Sasuke said, without moving from his position, facing away from Naruto.

"... yeah." The blonde admitted quietly.

"We're both going to make it to the final round." Sasuke's voice was clear and resolute.

Naruto's eyes widened.

Sasuke rolled over, looking him dead in the eye. "That way, even when I hand you your ass, there's no way the prize won't be ours." His voice had a touch of odd, sardonic humor to it.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Like you've got a chance of making it." He muttered, annoyed.

"Better than yours." Sasuke replied caustically, but there was a curl of his lip too gentle to be a smirk.

"Shut up and go to sleep, asshole." Naruto snarled, rolling over again, to look away.

There was silence for a while.

"You'd better make it to the final round, Sasuke." Naruto said quietly. "And when you do, I'll be waiting already, to kick your ass."

Sasuke grunted but said nothing more.

_I want to fight you too._

It would only be later that Naruto realized Sasuke said "ours," not "mine."

---

A few days later, on a clear afternoon, Ranma found himself fighting for his life.

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

He was fighting so that he wouldn't have his face pounded in, since so many people in the world were very much inclined to do pound Ranma Saotome into the ground.

In this case, it would be the most common and fervent person who was inclined to attack Ranma, while the young Saotome was taking a jaunt off to the market, to pick up some groceries for dinner.

And of course, walking through the park, who would spot him but Ryoga.

"Damn Ryoga, couldn't you even lay off for a week!"

Ranma grunted as Ryoga's fist narrowly missed his cheek, before lashing out with a solid jab to the other boy's face.

Ryoga barely flinched, but his aggravation grew and he bared his fangs. "If you think you're going to win that tournament, Ranma, think again!" he thrust forward with his umbrella, lashing out with a tempo of staccato stabs.

"Like you're going to win it, pork breath?" Ranma taunted as he wove in and out of the assault, reading the pattern easily- Ryoga was nothing if not predictable.

_If only I had more time... I still can't figure out what that old hag was saying..._

The words came unbidden, even as Ryoga roared in outrage at Ranma's evasion, and grabbed a bandanna from his forehead (really, no one was quite sure how many he wore), and spun it out until it hummed dangerously into the air.

"_Learn to focus your ki, harness it and shape it. This is much more than simply unleashing it using your ego." Cologne breathed out a cloud of misty, ash-grey smoke, "You cannot be taught this. It is something that must be cultivated and learned on your own. I can help you perfect it, nothing more."_

_Stupid old woman,_ Ranma growled again, jerking his head to one side to avoid being decapitated by Ryoga's bandana.

With a frustrated snarl, Ranma lashed out, slamming his foot into Ryoga's chest, knocking the other boy backwards, straight into a nearby tree with a particularly nasty crunch. "I said knock it off, P-chan!"

Again, Ryoga' freakish endurance shone through, allowing the eternally directionless boy the ability to stand up and barely feel winded.

Ranma groaned. Akane was going to _murder_ him for not bringing the groceries by dinner. Actually, make that the entire Tendo household- save Kasumi, of course.

Ryoga charged, head bowed low like a rampaging bull.

Ranma raised his leg high, in a display of remarkable flexibility. As soon as Ryoga was beneath that leg, sent it crashing down in a powerful axe kick.

With a nasty crunch, Ryoga hit the ground with impressive force, even though he was only about three feet above it at the time.

With a pained groan and small traces of cement dust falling away like dead leaves from his face, Ryoga picked himself up again.

Ranma rolled his eyes and groaned as well. This was going to take awhile.

---

"What is taking him so long!" Akane snarled, stamping her foot irritably as she glanced out into the front lawn once again. Crossing her arms with a sour look, she grumbled, "How long does it take to pick up some meat and noodles..."

Kasumi, standing in the kitchen, was thinking the same thing- though less violently. "Naruto?" she asked quietly, to the blonde was currently absorbed by the television.

Naruto didn't look away from the screen- actually, from the moment he had seen his first television show, he had been spending a great deal of time watching it- preferring action/adventure shows, of course. "Yes, Kasumi?"

Kasumi leaned into the dining room, where the T.V. was. "Could you go and see what's taking Ranma so long?"

Naruto stood, shrugging his shoulders and grinning carelessly. "Okay. It's a commercial break, anyway."

---

Ranma winced as Ryoga's fist connected with his shoulder, feeling the arm shake beneath the other boy's strength. As the umbrella wielding boy raised his fist again, to crash it into Ranma's face, Ranma bowed his head low and sprang off the ground with both feet, arching his knee in the process.

Ranma's kneecap slammed directly into Ryoga's gut, causing the fanged boy to wheeze and stagger backwards, winded.

"Come on Ryoga, I've gotta go!" Ranma complained, stepping away from the other boy.

"Don't think I'm beaten yet, Ranma!" Ryoga snapped, rushing forward with his index finger outstretched.

Ranma back flipped to avoid the attack, just as Ryoga's finger came down to connect with the ground where Ranma had stood but a second before.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!"

The ground beneath Ryoga's finger exploded into a violent hail of debris and a storm of dust.

Ranma shifted his weight from side to side, avoiding the shrapnel from the attack, expecting Ryoga to charge through the debris at any moment.

His expectation was proven correct was the Lost Boy stampeded out of the destruction he had caused, index finger raised again for another Breaking Point.

Ryoga snarled, "You won't escape this time Ranma! Bakusai Tenketsu!"

"Ranma! Ranma! Where are you!"

Ryoga stumbled, distracted, and missed Ranma by a good foot or so. Ranma didn't notice, his eyes automatically shifting toward the voice calling him.

Naruto turned the corner and spotted Ranma and Ryoga- just in time to see Ryoga's finger connect with the ground and create another explosion of dust and rock shrapnel.

His response, of course, was, "That was awesome!"

"Naruto?" Ranma crossed his arms, glancing at the blonde. "What are you doing here?"

"Kasumi wants to know if you got the groceries. Oh, and Akane's mad at you, again." Naruto said cheerily.

Ranma groaned. "Oh no..." he glanced toward the grocery bag he had discarded when Ryoga had first appeared. Thankfully, it was intact. "Akane's really mad, ain't she?" he asked, turning toward the blonde ninja yet again.

Naruto grinned, nodding.

"Crap." Ranma muttered, grabbing the bag. "I guess I'd better go. See you at home." With that, he took off running.

"Hey! You come back here!" Ryoga shouted, picking himself up from the crater he created.

"How'd you do that?" Naruto asked, stopping the Lost Boy from charging after Ranma. "You know that..." he gestured for a few moments, as if lost for words, "Explody thingy."

"Trade secret." Ryoga replied smugly. After a moment, he remembered what he was supposed to be doing- maiming/injuring/mauling Ranma Saotome.

"I don't have time for this! I need to go after Ranma!" and with that, he stampeded away.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Didn't Ranma go the other way?" he murmured, puzzled.

---

Dinner was fairly typical.

Ranma scowled and occasionally grimaced as Akane shot him the odd glare. Sasuke stayed quiet and only spoke when spoken to or to ask for another helping (Kasumi's cooking was something Sasuke was quickly becoming very attached to). Naruto talked loudly about his day to anyone who would listen.

Business as usual.

"Could I have some more rice?" Ranma asked, holding out his bowl toward Akane, who, unfortunately for him, was closest to the rice cooker.

"Get it yourself." She said coldly, glaring at him.

"Someone's in trouble," Naruto snickered. Ranma scowled.

"Ah, shuddup." Ranma grumbled irritably, leaning forward to get his own rice.

"RANMA!"

Only Naruto and, to a lesser extent, Sasuke, showed any real signs of being startled. Everyone else took in stride, at most blinking once as though seeing something only a tad out of the ordinary.

"Damn, and I was sure Ryoga would have gotten lost for at least another week!" Ranma snapped his fingers and stood up, food forgotten in the face of another fight.

"Oh honestly, you and Ryoga. Can't you two ever stop fighting?" Akane complained, frowning deeply. "If you'd just stop picking on him..."

"Me?" Ranma said angrily. "In case you've forgotten, Ryoga keeps trying to kick my ass! Excuse me for trying to keep myself intact!"

Akane stood up, nostrils flaring and jaw set in a fierce line. "Instead of fighting, maybe you should try to be a better man and talk it over! But no, Ranma Saotome would never dream of solving anything without his fists!"

Ranma opened his mouth to reply, when his father beat him to it.

"Ranma, a true martial artist uses his abilities as a last resort. Not everything can be solved through the fist." Genma said wisely, nodding his head.

"Aw, shut up pops!" Ranma grumbled. "Now you're lecturing me?"

"RANMA! WHERE ARE YOU!"

Cursing, Ranma turned around. "Aw, I was hoping he'd leave, but I guess I can beat him again. Ryoga's not someone who listens to anyone, Akane." And with that, he bounded outside.

"I want to watch this one!" Naruto grinned, and followed. Akane made a low, annoyed growl, and stomped outside, obviously determined not to let Ranma have the last word.

Sasuke quiet set down his bowl, and went outside as well. Though no one could see his face, his eyes changed into the bloody Sharingan red.

---

"Finally decided to come out of hiding, eh Ranma?" Ryoga said mockingly, baring his fangs. He had stayed in one spot, knowing that if he tried to find Ranma, he might end up losing his rival's trail again.

"I was eating dinner!" Ranma snapped, still irritable from his argument with Akane.

"Well you're about to be eating dirt!" Ryoga charged, head bowed like a rampaging bull as he went forward, fists flying.

Ranma sidestepped, lining his right arm up with Ryoga's chest. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

The audible impact of Ranma's fist again and again against his rival's torso rang out throughout the Tendo's yard. Still, Ryoga only winced and grimaced as he staggered backwards, whereas a normal man might have experienced crippling pain.

"Ranma... I'm not done!" Ryoga charged forward again. Ranma tried to dodge, but Ryoga's punch still clipped him on the shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards. The two boys glared at each other, and tensed, ready to spring at each other once again-

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Akane thundered, stamping her foot as she grabbed Ranma's ear.

"Owowow! Akane!" Ranma whined, but his fiancee only tugged harder on his ear.

"Quiet Ranma!" Akane snapped, before turning toward Ryoga, who backed away in the instinctive fear of a man before a furious woman. "Ryoga, I don't think you and Ranma should be fighting so often. Maybe you should come back later, okay?"

"Er-ah... Okay, Akane." Ryoga stuttered bashfully, his cheeks flushing. Despite his talk with Ukyo about surrendering his infatuation with Akane, he still couldn't help but fall to pieces around the girl.

Naruto, from his position inside the house, grinned thoughtfully as he noticed Ryoga's sweating, reddening face as he tried desperately to remain calm in front of Akane.

Sasuke scowled from the rooftop, letting his Sharingan fade. He hadn't seen anything worth noting from that battle, save for that Chestnut Fist attack of Ranma's again. Still, he had a whole month to copy and improve on any techniques he found interesting.

Sasuke's scowl faded as he jumped down from the rooftop. Maybe there was still some food left on the table...

Ranma scowled, yelling loudly about "Uncute tomboys!" and "Stupid Akane!" as he was dragged inside by Akane, who merely huffed and sniffed and looked pointedly away as she dragged him off by the ear.

Ryoga was left standing in the middle of the yard, scratching the back of his neck. Though he very much wanted to pound Ranma's face in with his fist, he wouldn't dare risk Akane's wrath in doing so.

He turned to leave when a voice called out to him. "Oi!"

Naruto leapt and bounded across the yard till he was standing in front of Ryoga.

"What? What do you want?" Ryoga demanded, looking irritable.

"Teach me that technique of yours!" Naruto said sunnily.

"I told you already that I won't do it!" the fanged boy replied loudly.

"If you do..." the blonde paused, relishing the words, "I'll set you up on a date with Akane." Naruto grinned as Ryoga's face suddenly went a deep crimson.

"I... uh..." Ryoga stuttered, his resistance fading rapidly.

"Come on! I'll even set the date up first! But you have to promise to teach me that technique!" Naruto implored, pointing his finger almost accusingly at Ryoga.

"Okay." Ryoga said, his lip curling upwards.

Naruto grinned. "Then it's a deal!"

---

"A date? With Ryoga?" Akane blinked, looking rather surprised. She was sitting on her bed, with Naruto currently standing in the middle of her room, currently trying to convince the girl to participate in his schemes.

"Please Akane?" Naruto begged, bowing his head and even raising his clenched hands upwards in the classic begging position. "Could you please just do me this one favor? Please?"

"Well... I don't know..." Akane was puzzled. Naruto had no involvement in the fiancee problems of Ranma, so he wouldn't be setting Akane up with Ryoga to get Ranma out of the engagement.

"It doesn't mean you'll marry him or anything!" Naruto pleaded. "Just one little date? Would it hurt you?"

Akane set her mouth in a line. Obviously, she wasn't convinced.

Naruto's mouth quickly raced to find a way to salvage this situation. Grasping at straws, Naruto drew back upon the prankster's cleverness that had terrorized the Academy. With a roguish grin, he said in an oily voice, "Well, I bet Ranma would be jealous to see his fiancee going out with another guy..."

"I don't care about Ranma!" Akane said loudly, her response coming out of her mouth before she could even really think about it. In a much lower voice, she shrugged. "But I'll go on the date anyway... but it is_ not_ to make Ranma jealous!"

Naruto grinned. "Sure... whatever."

And just outside of the room, Ranma scowled. "Akane and Ryoga? Not if I can help it."

Not that he was jealous, or nothing.

Because he wasn't.

---

"I still don't know about this," Ryoga said nervously, holding a bouquet of carnations that Naruto had been gracious enough to get for him. They were in the park, waiting for Akane to show up.

Because Ryoga had explained that he had a "slight navigational problem", Naruto decided Akane should just meet Ryoga somewhere, instead of Ryoga going to pick her up.

It was a beautiful day, perfect for a date. If only Ryoga would stop being so difficult!

"Look, I'll make sure everything goes fine, okay!" Naruto assured him, a tone of irritation lacing his voice.

"I don't know... every time I go on a date with Akane, Ranma shows up to wreck everything!" Ryoga's fists clenched and he bared his fangs at the mere thought of his rival.

"Look, I'll even stick around and watch to make sure everything goes okay, alright? I promise!" Naruto said, exasperated.

Before Ryoga could respond, Akane was seen walking up, wearing a modest, yellow sun dress. "Hi Ryoga!" she said cheerily, masking the fact that she was still uncertain about this date.

"Uh... I..." Ryoga's felt his mouth going dry as the desert.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto elbowed the older boy, hard. "Say hi, idiot!" he murmured.

"H-h-hi, Akane." Ryoga said nervously. He blinked as Naruto elbowed him again.

"Give her the flowers!" Naruto was beginning to think that this date was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

"Th-these are for you, Akane." Ryoga managed, holding out the carnations shyly.

Akane smiled warmly, moved by Ryoga's nervous nature. It was a vast change from Ranma's headstrong, prideful nature... but at the same time, there was a tiny part of her that protested the change. "They're beautiful, Ryoga."

"Well, I'll just leave you two alone then." Naruto announced, grinning. "Have fun you two!" and with that, the blonde ninja walked off jauntily, whistling.

"Wait!" Ryoga began, but it was too late. Naruto was already walking away. He turned back toward Akane, feeling an almost overwhelming panic swelling within him. His cheeks burned as he spoke. "So... uh... what do you want to do first?"

"How about we go get something to eat in the park? There's an ice cream stand not too far from here." Akane suggested.

"S... Sounds good." Ryoga swallowed hard. _Come on, this could be your last chance! Even if Akane doesn't share your feelings, you have to try! Maybe if you do, she'll start to see you in a different light!_

---

"Stupid Ryoga. What's Akane thinkin', going on a date with that nut?"

Ranma was not happy. Not at all. Valuable training time had to be diverted to making sure Akane didn't do anything stupid with Ryoga.

Like kissing him. Or hugging him. Or touching him.

Heck, being on a date with Ryoga was stupid enough without that sort of thing.

A sly grin crossed his face. "I guess I gotta make sure that this little date doesn't go so well..." he grabbed the bucket he had so thoughtfully prepared ahead of time... and dumped it over his head.

Where the dark haired young man had stood, now he was replaced by a busty, smaller redheaded young woman.

Ranma-chan grinned. "Let's get to work."

---

Naruto yawned, rolling his eyes as a blushing Ryoga handed Akane her ice cream (two scoops of chocolate). Really, this was _boring. _

_Remember the technique. _Naruto grinned. The idea of being able to obliterate rocks with his finger was just too tempting.

And all he had to do was make sure this little date went smoothly.

His grin widened. "It's not nearly as hard as what Ero-sennin had me doing to learn Rasengan."

Naruto was going to seriously regret those words.

---

"You... are... unbelievable..." Naruto gasped, grabbing the back of Ranma-chan's shirt, along with three of his Kage Bunshins, sweat rolling down his ruby red face, exhausted from subduing Ranma-chan and pulling her away from Ryoga and a furious Akane.

"I can't believe you actually tried to run up to Ryoga and break up that date by pretending to be his long lost girlfriend that he couldn't remember ever going out with because of some crazy accident that gave him selective... amnesia, was it?"

Ranma-chan scowled, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Why are you messin' around where yer not wanted!" she demanded, twisting her head to glare at the blonde, struggling against her captors. "Why are you setting Akane and Ryoga up on a date!"

"It's a trade." Naruto replied, annoyed that Ranma-chan had interfered so much. "I get him a date, he teaches me that... bakusai-whatever technique." The Naruto clones nodded in affirmation.

"You're insane!" Ranma-chan shouted, eyes wide. "Do you _know_ what Ryoga had to do to learn that technique?"

"I guess I'll find out when this date's over." Naruto shrugged. "But for right now, you and me are going to stay right here until that happens." He snickered, remembering Akane's furious, outraged expression. "Besides, I think that you're safer with me. Akane looked like she was ready to kill you."

"It's her own fault. She's got no business dating that Ryoga." Ranma-chan muttered.

Naruto grinned impishly. "Someone's jealous..."

"Ah... shuddup!" Ranma-chan snarled, but her cheeks were stained a pretty crimson. "Why don't ya go up and-"

"DIE RANMA SAOTOME!"

Naruto heard a whistling on the wind that sounded distinctly like metal thrown through the air, and, on instinct, leapt away. His clones were not so lucky, and were destroyed by a rain of weaponry, ranging from tonfa to long spears to knives, all of which were attached by long chains.

Ranma-chan rolled away, narrowly avoiding a very painful, very pointy death.

"Does everyone want to kill you!" Naruto demanded, spearing Ranma-chan with a harsh glare.

"No, just the crazy ones." Ranma-chan snapped, before another hail of sharp and blunt objects soared through the air, forcing her to dodge to one side.

A young man leapt down from the trees, laughing loudly. He was dressed in an intricate, white Chinese robe with a yellow inner lining, with black rimming his sleeves, and wore almost ridiculously large, round glasses.

"Hello, Ranma Saotome." He smirked, crossing his arms. "Today's the day I defeat you!"

"Mousse, I'm sort of in the middle of something here!" Ranma-chan shouted. "Come back later!"

"Later!" Mousse sputtered, blinking in disbelief. "How dare you!" and then, in absolute defiance of the laws of physics, removed a large spear from his sleeves. "I'll kill you!" he roared, charging forward... directly at Naruto.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the blonde ninja shouted, weaving away, barely avoiding being impaled.

"Quiet Ranma! I'll teach you to be so arrogant!" Mousse punctuated every word with another fierce stab, tearing through the air.

"I'm not Ranma, dumbass!" Naruto snapped.

Mousse stopped his assault, blinking as he removed his glassed with one hand, rubbing them against his robes. When he placed them back on, he blinked again, stating, "You're not Ranma."

"No, really!" Naruto snarled, pointing violently toward Ranma-chan. "_That's _Ranma!"

"So it is." Mousse muttered, fixing his glasses while still holding the spear. He stared at Ranma-chan, who stared back. Naruto's sapphire eyes darted between both, as if waiting for something.

There was a terse moment of silence.

"DIE RANMA!"

And inevitably, it was broken.

---

"That Ranma," Akane huffed, "Who does he think he is, barging in on our date!" behind her, being pulled along by Akane's forceful hand, Ryoga merely nodded silently, as always cowed by Akane's fiery temper.

Akane was determined to make sure this date went well. Just to shove that in Ranma's face.

"Come on Ryoga!" she stomped off, Ryoga in tow.

Ryoga glanced at Akane's determined, angry face, one he had seen so many times, but this time, it was different. Maybe it was his talk with Ukyo, or the memory of Akane's face when Ranma collapsed.

But Ryoga realized that Akane was probably not enthused about this date because of him, but because of how she could shove it in Ranma's face.

Ranma, Ranma, Ranma.

_Am I going to lose to you again, Ranma?_

They passed a middle aged man on the street, who, after watching the overwhelmed Ryoga being dragged off by Akane, started chuckling to himself. "That poor boy," he muttered sympathetically. "That girl's got a lot of spirit. I don't think he can handle her."

---

Ranma-chan sidestepped a flurry of chains that burst out of Mousse's robes, and then charged forward, coming in with a hard, fast hook.

Much to her surprise, another chain flew out of the Chinese man's clothing, wrapping around her wrist, pulling Ranma-chan's fist until it missed Mousse completely.

"Is that all you've got?" Mousse taunted, flinging his sleeve forward and unleashing another swarm of chains. Ranma-chan, her wrist still caught, was unable to evade, and suddenly her other arm, as well as her legs, were wrapped by Mousse's chains.

Ranma-chan swallowed. Mousse smirked, and tugged violently, hurling Ranma-chan through the air, slamming her into the ground with a vicious thud.

_This is new,_ Ranma-chan thought grimly. Mousse had always been a rather minor threat- but now, his reactions were superb, and those chains of his were acting as though he controlled them with his mind...

Mousse grinned and lifted Ranma-chan up again with another tug on the chains.

"Oh no you don't!" Ranma-chan shouted, managing to get her hands close enough together to gather a rather prodigious amount of ki. "Moko Takabisha!" the blast smashed into Mousse, sending him flying backwards, slamming into the ground with a harsh crunch.

At the same time, the backlash of not being grounded while firing the Moko Takabisha caused Ranma-chan to be knocked backwards as well, freeing her from the chains, though leaving her with some rather raw skin.

Mousse stirred, groaning. He tried to lift his head, but it soon fell back down.

Ranma-chan moaned, rubbing her aching back as she staggered up to her feet. "And stay down," she muttered, removing her hand from her back and rubbing her forehead instead. "My head..."

Naruto shook his head, smiling gently as he stepped next to Ranma-chan, holding out a hand to steady her. "You alright?"

"Y-yeah..." Ranma-chan said, eyes closed. After a moment, they snapped open. "Oh no! I forgot about Ryoga and Akane!" and with that, she ran off, just as Naruto swung out his hand, trying in vain to grab at the back of her shirt.

"Ah well..." Naruto muttered, watching her race off. "They're probably done by now too." He glanced at Mousse's unconscious body, then shrugged. "He probably knows his way back home."

On his way back to the Tendo's, he spotted a familiar spiky head of hair. "Oi! Sasuke!"

Sasuke glanced at the blonde, a hint of annoyance but nothing else crossing his face. "Hn. And what have you been doing all day?" he asked, hands in his pockets, keeping his eyes forward and continuing at his own pace.

Naruto shrugged, falling into Sasuke's pace. "Nothing much really. But you know, this place is _weird_."

---

"Akane!" Ranma panted, back in his male form after having managed to find some hot water a few minutes before. He had run across most of Nerima, trying to find Akane, before deciding that since it was getting late, Akane might have gone back home.

His guess was correct, and he spotted Akane's lone, petite figure at the gates of the Tendo household. He was glad that Ryoga wasn't there with her, sharing a goodbye kiss, in ways that he would never admit to even under severe torture.

"Oh, it's you." Akane muttered, rolling her eyes as she pushed the gate open. "What do you want?"

"Where's Ryoga?" Ranma asked brusquely, in lieu of answering.

"He left." Akane replied tersely, deliberately not looking at him.

"What, he didn't walk you home?" Ranma's voice was thick was teasing, condescending scorn.

"Shut up, Ranma." Akane gritted out, her nostrils flaring as she continued _not _looking at him.

Ranma, actually using that part of his brain that had an ability known as tact, did not push Akane's buttons, but instead said, "Eh, he wasn't worth your time anyway."

Akane froze, a redness that was not caused by the setting sun going up her cheeks. "Wh-what? What was that Ranma?" she turned towards him, eyes wide with disbelief.

The Heir to the Anything Goes School, as per his usual oblivious nature, continued on rambling, "Well, you know, Ryoga's kind of... spineless. And you... you've got a lot of spirit, Akane. More than anyone else I've met, anyway."

"Oh." Akane said quietly, her cheeks now definitely burning hot and flushed.

Ranma paused, suddenly realizing what he had been saying. "Uh..." a redness matching Akane's erupted on his own cheeks.

They stood awkwardly in front of each other, blushing, uncomfortable.

"Ranma..." Akane said quietly, in a tone that Ranma had only heard in his dreams.

"Y-yeah?" his breath was short and shallow, his throat tight, his mouth dry.

"Hey guys!"

Ranma and Akane jerked apart, each wearing expressions of absolute shock at Naruto, who, along with a smirking Sasuke, stood right behind them.

"Hope we're not interrupting anything." Sasuke smirked impishly, and the sheer vexing nature of his voice nearly gave Ranma an aneurysm.

"Let's go inside! I'm starving!" Naruto crowed, grinning as he pumped his fist into the air.

Ranma and Akane, determinedly _not_ looking at each other, nodded awkwardly and walked inside.

However, though neither one noticed, they both wore identical, gentle smiles on their faces.

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Bakusai Tenketsu (Breaking Point)**- An Amazon technique designed for work in the rock quarries, it finds the specific breaking point of rocks or anything derived from rock (including cement) and causes it to explode._

_**Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire Punch)-** A series of punches so fast that they can look like a single strike. Gets its name from the training style, involving pulling Chestnuts from a fire without being burned. Often called the Chestnut Fist._

_**Moko Takabisha** (**Fierce Tiger Ball)**- A blast of ki powered by Ranma's pride and confidence. _

Urgh... sorry everyone. This chapter was a pain to write, the most difficulty I've had with a chapter in this story so far.

First things first... in order to keep confusion away, I'm labeling Ranma's girl form as Ranma-chan, which is a habit I picked up from a few Ranma ½ stories I've read.


	11. Chapter 11 One Month Montage

"_The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit."_

_-Morihei Ueshiba_

Chapter 11

One Month Montage

_This was it_, Ranma thought to himself. He had hit rock bottom.

He was going to ask his father for advice.

"Yo pops."

Genma turned toward him with a curious look, glasses glinting in the morning sunlight. "Yes Ranma?" he asked curiously. His son rarely approached him for anything, even for the most basic advice.

"How..." Ranma struggled, trying his best to pin down his pride that still insisted he could figure out Cologne's words on his own. "How do you project your ki? You know, like the old freak does it?"

Genma's eyes widened. "Well now, that's an interesting question. Why do you wanna know, boy?" he questioned, a strange look in his eyes.

"Could ya just tell me?" Ranma replied irritably, crossing his arms, turning away.

"It's really a simple trick boy. You just focus your ki-" Genma began, but his son cut him off.

"Well how the heck do you do that!" Ranma all but snarled, eyes narrowed. "Everyone always says, just focus! How the heck am I supposed to know what to focus?"

"And that's your problem boy." Genma replied easily, shaking his head. "You're someone who's grounded in the physical. Grasping the emotions behind things is partly how one can control their ki." _And how one avoids angering women, _Genma added silently, knowing Ranma was also in need of being trained in that particular art as well.

"I mastered the Hiryu Shoten Ha just fine." The younger Saotome said sullenly, crossing his arms again.

"By knowing the base emotion of anger, and the lack of emotion." His father responded sagely. "Haven't you noticed," he continued in a lecturing tone, "That the master only uses his ki projection when he's truly, actually angry?"

"So you're saying," Ranma began, a look of understanding in his eyes, "That all the old freak is doing is getting pissed off, and then using that to fuel his ki?"

"And then immediately afterward, he unleashes it in the form of a massive ki version of himself." Genma finished, nodding as he pushed up his glasses with an index finger. "It's immensely draining, and for you, my boy, it'll do you no good."

"Why?" Ranma blinked in surprise, looking startled.

Genma looked at his son with a serious expression. "Foolish boy!" he snarled, looking agitated, "What is the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts founded upon?"

"Speed and aerial combat." Ranma replied automatically, before his eyes widened again.

"Oh, I get it!" he grinned, looking pleased with his own realization. "Making myself bigger would only slow me down." He nodded, satisfied, and with a sly grin, he added, "You're smarter than you look pops."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Genma said slowly, pushing up his glasses to the bridge of his nose once again. "So why did you want to know, Ranma?"

"Eh, the old ghoul said something about controlling my ki when I asked her to teach me somethin'. Said it would help me counter those techniques that Naruto and Sasuke have." Ranma replied, waving his hand in dismissal.

"Foolish boy! Do you realize what she's training you to do?" Genma said loudly, even as his eyes widened in surprise. "If you can control your ki, simple tricks like turning your ki cold or projecting it outward will by child's play!"

He settled back down into a meditative pose, closing his eyes. When they opened again, his voice was calmer. "Ranma, that sort of skill is something only true martial arts masters such as old Cologne or the master posses. It will put you on equal ground with any martial artist, and most likely, you'll surpass them."

"I don't get it. What's so great about controlling my ki?" Ranma said, dumbfounded as he began scratching the back of his head.

"Can't you see, Ranma? If you master this singular ability, it will open up hundreds upon hundreds of techniques you could create and master. Tricks like ki-blasts will become just one of the many things you can do." Genma's voice raised itself slightly, growing more excited by the moment.

Ranma's face lit up as his father continued speaking, entranced by the idea.

"If you can master this," Genma finished, "It will allow you to win the tournament, regardless of who your opponent is."

---

"You must be kidding me!"

Ryoga shook his head, leaning back against a tree in the Tendo's yard. "That's the way that old Cologne taught me to use the Bakusai Tenketsu, and it's the only way I know."

Naruto frowned, looking extremely agitated. "But... but... that's..." he stammered, waving his hands in the air frantically, "_Insane_!"

The perpetually lost boy merely shrugged. "Hey, I told you how to learn the technique. It's up to you to decide if you want to learn it that badly or not." Ryoga said calmly, closing his eyes. After his decision not to walk Akane home, he felt the subtle peace of distance, and he knew he had made the first step in accepting the fact that what he felt would forever remain unrequited.

"But why do I have to smash myself over and over again with rocks until I can break one using just my finger!" Naruto shouted loudly, still gesturing wildly. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"Because it builds up your stamina and strength," Ryoga replied easily, opening his eyes, "And it makes you a whole lot stronger. After that training, Ranma could kick me in the head and I would barely even felt it."

"So what, hitting yourself with rocks just made you that much tougher?" Naruto asked, curious and sounding calmer.

"Exactly." Ryoga said, nodding his head.

Naruto swallowed. The tournament was coming, and this was the only new technique he was going to learn... but if it made him as tough as Ryoga said, maybe it would be enough.

---

"Please! I need you to help me!"

"I'm sorry, Akane." Soun Tendo sighed, hating having to let down his daughter like this. "But we both know that you've learned everything I can teach you. Unlike Saotome, I haven't had the will to continue perfecting and creating techniques for the Anything Goes School. Not since your dear mother died..."

"I'm sorry daddy, but then who else can I go to?" Akane asked desperately. "Mr. Saotome's style is too different and I don't think I could handle what he put Ranma through..." she finished pleadingly, looking earnestly at her father.

Soun stroked his chin, an idea forming within his mind. "Well, you could always ask Ranma." He suggested, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

Akane did not disappoint. "What! Me? Ask that pervert!"

"Akane. Though you and Ranma have your differences, you must admit he is currently the person best suited to train you... the master aside, of course." Soun added as an uncomfortable afterthought.

"But..." she struggled, obviously trying to find another solution. When none appeared, she sighed, giving into defeat.

"Alright. I'll do it."

---

"What?" Ranma blinked, his words muffled by the amount of food jammed into his mouth.

"Please train me." Akane repeated, her head bowed low. "I don't have anyone else who can."

Ranma swallowed, still looking confused. "What about yer dad?"

"I've already learned everything I can from him. Please, Ranma. I don't have anywhere else to go to." Akane pleaded, keeping her head low and her voice at a low, earnest pitch.

"I dunno..." Ranma began, scratching the back of his head. "Why do you wanna train with someone else? You've never asked before."

"This tournament... I want... no..." Akane seemed to be struggling to admit her fear, one of her greatest of all. "I _need_ to prove to myself that I can hold my own. That I don't need you, Ryoga, or anyone else to rescue me."

Ranma seemed to take the words to heart, a thoughtful expression on his face. When he spoke, however, his voice still carried a trace of doubt. "Well..."

Akane's lip curled upwards slightly, and she decided that one last plea might do the trick. "If you don't, then maybe grandfather Happosai would be-"

She wasn't even finished when Ranma's voice cut in loudly, "What! Oh, heck no! There's no way yer going to train with the old freak!" he snarled fiercely, and now it was Akane's turn to be surprised at the vehemence in his voice.

"I'll train you myself." He finished, grasping her wrist tightly. "We start tomorrow, at dawn. We're heading up to the mountains. Don't want any distractions."

Akane's face all but glowed as she smiled radiantly at him. "Thank you Ranma! Thank you!" without thinking, she grabbed him and embraced him fervently.

"I... uh..." Ranma stammered, feeling a bit of heat rise to his cheeks. Yes, he spent part of his time as a girl, but that didn't mean he wasn't still affected when the soft curves of a young woman were pressing against him. "You're welcome."

"I brought some dessert and-" Kasumi's eyes widened ever so slightly, and a happy smile lit up her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll come back in a bit."

"Nothing's happening!" Akane and Ranma shouted in unison, voices filled with mortification.

They broke apart in the blink of an eye, blushing and looking away from one another.

Kasumi chuckled, still smiling. "Of course."

---

"Thank you! Come again!" Ukyo said cheerily, waving goodbye to her last customer of the lunch hour rush. As soon as her patron was out the door, her face changed to a quiet, solemn look.

_Ran-chan..._

She shook her head. "Get a grip girl! You told yourself it was time to start living for yourself again. Think about other things... like the tournament." Ukyo smiled for a brief second, remembering the idea of being named champion.

"_And the winner is... Ukyo Kuonji!" the announcer shouted, barely audible over the cheering of thousands upon thousands of men and women and children, all of them clapping and whooping and chanting her name. _

"_Thank you! Thank you everyone!" Ukyo smiled, waving her hand, holding her trusty giant spatula with her other hand. "To all of my opponents... you were worthy foes! I hope we can fight again!"_

_The crowd cheered again._

"_And remember, when you're hungry, Ucchan's Okonomiyaki is always there for you!" Ukyo flashed a V for victory sign. _

"_You're so great Ukyo!" Ranma cheered-_

Ukyo shook her head again, that somber look causing her brow to furrow. Ran-chan... he was the best martial artist in Nerima. How would she stand a chance when faced against him? Or Shampoo, Mousse, or-

"Ryoga?" Ukyo blinked, seeing the yellow clad boy standing outside of her restaurant, glancing around and looking utterly lost.

"Oh. Hi Ukyo." Ryoga greeted politely, nodding his head. "I was trying to find my way to the mountains to train... but I guess..."

"You got lost again." Ukyo giggled, shaking her head in amused exasperation. "Oh Ryoga. You're hopeless, you know that?"

Ryoga blushed, embarrassed but not as irritable as he usually was when someone teased him about his navigational ability, or lack thereof. Then again, it was usually Ranma, and_ anything _Ranma said made Ryoga angry.

"So you're going to train for the tournament?" Ukyo asked curiously.

"Yeah. I'm not going to let Ranma beat me this time!" Ryoga snarled, causing her to roll her eyes and chuckle.

_He'll never let go of that grudge, will he?_

"Training in the mountains... that sounds like a good idea..." Ukyo said thoughtfully, and paused, an idea worming its way into her brain.

"Say Ryoga..." Ukyo began slowly, and the Lost Boy looked at her with a curious expression.

"Do you think you could train me?"

Ryoga blinked, and stammered, "Well... I... I don't know... I mean..."

"Please?" Ukyo asked pleadingly, her dark brown eyes wide and expressive. "I can help you train too... you know what they say, two heads are better than one."

Ryoga finally nodded, his lip curling upwards slightly. "Okay. I could use the company, I guess."

"Thank you!" Ukyo smiled happily, and Ryoga felt a bit of blood rush to his cheeks.

"Besides," Ukyo added slyly, not noticing Ryoga's embarrassment, "How else are you going to find your way to the mountains and back to the tournament in a month?"

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Ryoga protested.

"Oh please. You get lost trying to find your way out of my restaurant."

---

_Scurry. Sniff. Dart underneath the brush. _

Simple thoughts, but after all, this is a rabbit's brain that we are currently taking a peek into.

_Peek head out of bush._

Suddenly, the rabbit barely caught a glimpse of two crimson orbs with rapidly spinning dots swirling in the center-

And suddenly, a massive, growling black wolf appeared before the rabbit, eyes filled with hungry, predatory bloodlust. Fear, the primal instinct within all things, seized the rabbit's mind and filled it with the full force of absolute terror.

The rabbit bolted, acting on the pure instinct of frightened prey.

Sasuke Uchiha smiled darkly, watching the bushes shake as the animal darted away, with all the speed of the hunted. His Sharingan was gaining strength, just as he had predicted.

And as for his body...

Sasuke smirked as he struck out at a nearby tree, smashing it over and over again with speed that was nearly beyond his Sharingan- nearly, being the key word.

_I can see your "Chestnut Fist" now, Ranma._

He was already gaining tremendous ground, and Sasuke smirk grew at that, knowing that the tournament was still some time away. What's more, he had enough food to last for two weeks, thanks to Kasumi, and could easily hunt for himself if it came to that.

He even had time to start investigating other techniques he'd seen... including that strange blast of chakra Ranma had unleashed upon him before.

"Moko Takabisha, was it..." Sasuke murmured. "That might be useful."

Everything was going his way this time around.

---

"This sucks." Naruto groaned, moaning as he sagged within his suspended harness, his entire body aching from another day of attempting master the Bakusai Tenketsu. The massive stone boulder in front of him seemed to be mocking him, laughing at him.

And for some reason, it used Sasuke's voice to do it.

"_Can't beat me, dead last."_

"Go to Hell." Naruto gritted out, grabbing the rope that controlled the movement of the boulder and yanking it with all his strength.

The massive stone soared through the air, and Naruto's eyes narrowed as he lashed out, shouting, "Bakusai Tenketsu!" his finger connected with the rock-

And crumpled, causing him to scream out in agony once again.

"Having a spot of trouble, are we?" old Cologne's voice drifted through the mountain wilderness, and Naruto turned toward her, looking surprised through his pained expression.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned weakly.

"Well, I heard that someone was attempting the Bakusai Tenketsu training. I don't want an idiot dying trying to learn this basic technique." Cologne replied easily, blowing out a few smoke rings.

"Basic technique?" Naruto demanded angrily. "You must be crazy! This technique makes no sense!"

"Obviously because Ryoga forgot to impart the key to all of this." Cologne snapped, rolling her eyes and slamming the ground with her staff.

"Clear your mind, boy, and see with the mind's eye!"

"See with the mind's eye?" Naruto blinked.

"You can't be distracted by things like ego or anger for this to work. Your mind must be blank save for pure determination and will." Cologne instructed.

"Now, try again."

---

"But Ranma-" Akane protested, her breath harsh and labored, her pale yellow gi dirty from past efforts.

"Again, Akane." Ranma repeated, still in fighting stance. "You're strong. Maybe not as strong as Shampoo, but that's fine. But you're not fast enough."

"Easy for you to say," Akane shot back. "You were trained to be fast since you were a kid. But in case you've forgotten, the Tendo School focuses mainly on strength and ground based techniques."

"Which is good. I don't need ya to be as fast as me," Ranma said, jerking his thumb at his chest. "But ya hafta be at least as fast as Shampoo or Ucchan to be good enough to get through the tournament."

Hearing her rival's names tossed out like that struck a nerve in Akane... something Ranma had intended. Though lacking in a few mental capacities (tact, for one), Ranma was an expert at the psychological aspect of combat.

"Fine then! I'll show you I'm every bit as good as Shampoo, Ukyo, or anyone else!" Akane snarled, and lunged forward once again.

Ranma smiled thoughtfully, even as he ducked a punch that, much to his satisfaction, only narrowly missed striking his shoulder.

---

"Better." Ryoga stated, his breath just a little deeper after the intense battle he had just waged. He placed his red bamboo umbrella against his shoulder, tapping it lightly.

Ukyo sagged to the floor, her giant spatula clattered upon the ground as she released it from her hands. Her breathing was harsh and ragged, her chest heaved as she sucked in as much air as she could.

"Thanks." She managed raggedly, smiling through a mask of dirt and sweat.

Ryoga inclined his head, his own lip curling upwards slightly. "Now let's go again."

---

"Can't... no more..." Naruto moaned, rotating helplessly from his suspended harness. His body ached, his head ached, hell, he was almost certain that even the Kyuubi was feeling the hits from the boulders.

"Very well then. We will start again tomorrow." Cologne said, releasing Naruto from his harness. Over the past few days, Cologne had watched Naruto grow steadily stronger with each day of effort, which compensated for the fact that he was still unable to grasp the Bakusai Tenketsu.

However... one thing troubled her old, wizened mind.

The bruises and injuries Naruto sustained each day of training disappeared after just a single night's rest, leaving the blonde ninja refreshed and ready to start again, even stronger than the day before.

Cologne had already known that Ryoga's endurance was beyond normal, and while Naruto's was certainly not on the same level, his ability to heal from injuries more than compensated.

It wasn't just strange...

It was supernatural.

Cologne frowned. Despite appearances, this young boy was carrying a secret...

And Cologne had an instinctive feeling that whatever that secret was, it was of the darkest and most powerful kind imaginable.

---

Sasuke let out a low groan as he collapsed onto the ground, unable to even hold himself up for a moment longer. His chakra reserves were burned out each and every day far sooner than he would have liked, and although they were growing, it wasn't as fast as he would have liked.

His hands looked almost as if they were burnt, unusual considering the fact that there was no fire...

Sasuke cursed his earlier optimism. These new techniques were too draining, too tiring. He needed some other technique, some other way to build up chakra so he could use these techniques more effectively...

An idea crossed his mind. A technique that he had once been forbidden from trying...

"_Sasuke." Kakashi-sensei's face wore a serious expression, one that he always found a bit unnerving when compared to the smiling face their jounin teacher normally wore. "I know that sooner or later, you'll see Naruto complete his Kage Bunshin Jutsu at least once when you attain Sharingan._"

_Sasuke frowned. "And?"_

"_Don't try it." Kakashi-sensei said gravely. "The chakra required is too great for a genin like you." He raised his hand, cutting off Sasuke's predicted protest. "Naruto, as we both know, has chakra reserves that exceed even most chuunin. That's his strength, but you don't have that sort of chakra."_

_Sasuke scowled, obviously unhappy with the idea of Naruto surpassing him in any way._

"_Sasuke. Do you understand?"_

_Reluctantly, he nodded, not wanting to risk trying to prove Kakashi-sensei wrong._

Well, seeing as how Kakashi wasn't technically his sensei anymore...

Sasuke smirked, and he chuckled under his breath.

The idea of Naruto's face after seeing Sasuke pull off his favorite move was just too amusing to pass up.

---

"Ranma? Ranma?" Akane called out, frowning as she tapped her foot impatiently. "Where is he? I told him dinner would be ready in half an hour." She scowled. "If he's skipping dinner so he doesn't have to try my food..."

For once, however, Ranma was far too distracted to consider the threat on his life by way of Akane's cooking.

Akane pulled free a flashlight from the packs, and, after flicking it on, stepped into the woods, all the while muttering, "I swear, if he's goofing off..."

Still, she was worried. For the past two weeks, Ranma had been constantly disappearing at odd times, returning looking exhausted and frustrated.

She walked for an indefinite amount of time, carefully watching the woods for any manner of beast or, even worse, some crazy pervert. As she went ever deeper into the darkness of the forest, she began to worry.

How far could Ranma have gone?

Just as she was beginning to seriously wonder for her fiancee's safety, she heard his voice, quiet and frustrated.

"Damn it! I can't hold it for very long..." as he finished, Akane heard him pant slowly, his breath harsh. It sounded as though he was struggling against something that was slowly overpowering him...

_A giant, slobbering beast, fangs gleaming as it lunged for Ranma's throat-_

Akane ran headlong toward where Ranma's voice had originated from. "Ranma!" she shouted, plunging forward until she caught sight of a clearing, in the center of which was-

_Ranma?_

Unharmed, unhurt, looking winded and sweaty but otherwise unharmed. Relief flooded through Akane and she smiled, which turned to an irritated look at the worry he had inadvertently caused her.

Before she could storm in and scold him, however, Ranma's eyes closed, and the look of intense concentration on his face caused her to falter.

Suddenly, and without warning, Ranma's skin began to glow, a pure white light that was faint but covered his entire body.

"What the..." Akane breathed, eyes widening, her mouth open and slack.

Ranma's eyes snapped open and suddenly he was gone, with nothing but a small dust devil in his wake. Akane's mouth opened wider as, not more than second later a nearby tree, tall and strong, suddenly collapsed with a violent snap.

In front of the falling tree, leg raised in a position that clearly indicated it had been the cause of the destruction, was Ranma.

Ranma landed gracefully with one foot, spinning out his other leg to let the last of his immense impetus fade away. As he finished however, he let out a low groan, and collapsed.

"Ranma!" Akane rushed over, kneeling next to his prone form. She turned him over, propping him up against her knees. "Are you okay?"

"Akane..." Ranma's eyes were unfocused as he smiled like a little kid. "Didja see? I almost managed to hold it this time..." he closed his eyes, and went limp.

Akane panicked for a brief moment, but her breathing steadied when she saw Ranma's chest move up and down gently, his breath low and easy.

Almost without thinking, she stroked his raven hair gently, looking mystified. "What was that just now..."

---

"Like it?" Ryoga smiled widely, even as sweat rolled down his reddened face, cheeks flushed with blood from the exertion. "I got the idea from my Shi Shi Hokodan's heavy ki."

Ukyo nodded, clearly awed by Ryoga's display. "I'm impressed Ryoga. There's a lot more going on inside your head than trying to kill Ranma, isn't there?"

Ryoga flushed, unused to praise, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, you know... Ranma's not the only one who can think up new techniques."

Ukyo smiled. "I'll be rooting for you at the tournament, okay Ryoga? And you'll do the same, won't you?" her voice was bright and her heart felt lighter than it had been since she had decided to try and give up on Ranma.

"You... you will?" Ryoga stammered, surprised. "I mean... you're not going to root for-"

"No. You're the one who took the time to train me, after all." Ukyo replied, trying to ignore the slight sting at the thought of Ranma. "Besides, we're friends, and that's what friends do, right?"

Ryoga blinked, again surprised. But as Ukyo smiled, his mouth curled upwards into its own, smaller smile. "Okay. I'll be rooting for you too."

---

"Now, one more time. Make sure you hit it correctly." Cologne shouted, tapping her staff to the boulder she was currently situated atop of.

"I did it before, didn't I?" Naruto replied, beaming and grinning. "Just bring it on granny."

Cologne shook her head about the "impertinence of youth", and pushed off, letting the boulder swing at full speed as she leapt off of it, watching it all carefully.

Naruto's eyes were focused, bright and clear as the summer sky. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he slammed his finger into the boulder.

Immediately, and with great effect, the boulder detonated upon itself, sending shards of debris and clouds of dust through the air, but none of that affected Naruto, who merely grinned triumphantly.

"Gotcha." Naruto murmured, satisfied.

---

It was a sight that many environmentalists would have found horrifying. The trees in the clearing were demolished from previous damage, their leaves scattered like blood, the ground broken up and charred by the training done.

The newest casualties were the animals themselves, scattered about, injured and numb from the latest technique devised by the person who had caused all the previous damage.

A few of the animals were twitching, their fur slightly singed and smoking from Sasuke's newest technique.

Or rather, an adaption of one of his techniques, made stronger and more effective for purposes other than what it had been originally intended for.

The mark of an Uchiha.

Sasuke looked about at the damage he had caused, feeling a slight pang of pity for all the animals that he had harmed by accomplishing the technique. Though he tried to make it go away, the sight of all these injured animals was just too similar to a massacre...

_The once proud Uchiha clan's blood spilled across the streets, their bodies bloodied and broken-_

Sasuke shook his head, scowling. Now was not the time.

The tournament was about to begin, after all.

---

"This is an unusual mission request." Tsunade murmured, eyeing the three young genin in front of her curiously, moving her eyes away from the mission proposition on her desk. "Exactly why do you want me to authorize this C-Ranked mission?"

Shino Aburame stepped forward, speaking in a clear, official tone. "You see, Tsunade-sama, this is around the time when the Bikochu, the rare insect we mentioned in our preliminary report, will start to lay its eggs. Once it does so, the newborn Bikochu can track any scent, no matter how faint or how old."

Shino pushed his sunglasses up his to the bridge of his nose. "We would like permission to use this Bikochu to locate Naruto Uzumaki and, hopefully by extension, Sasuke Uchiha."

Behind him, Hinata Hyuuga nodded weakly, and Kiba Inuzuka said loudly, "That's right!" Akamaru barked his own affirmation.

Tsunade's eyes widened. For the past month she had been fighting with the council over the whereabouts of those two particular genin, supported mostly by stalwarts of the Sandaime's administration as well as, surprisingly enough, the Hyuuga Clan's Hiashi Hyuuga.

Team Gai's mission to Rice Field, while having brought some excellent reconaissance and new allies in the form of the Fuma Clan, hadn't found a single trace of either Naruto or Sasuke.

This could be the break in the case she had been hoping for.

However...

"Permission granted, but on one condition." The Godaime said slowly, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

Shino's face, as always, betrayed nothing. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade smiled, and called out loudly, "Shizune! Get my apprentice in here! She should be in my library!"

"Alright Tsunade-sama!" Shizune's voice called out, and her hurried steps were audible through the door.

All three members of Team Eight shot the Hokage a puzzled look, but Tsunade merely continued to smile thoughtfully.

The door opened, and the members of Team Eight turned around to catch a glimpse of the third and only remaining member of the infamous Team Seven.

"I'm here, Tsunade-sama." Sakura Haruno said, looking just as puzzled as Team Eight. "Why did you summon me?"

"Sakura, these three have informed me of a special type of insect that can help us find out where Naruto is, and hopefully Sasuke as well." Tsunade explained, folding her hands just beneath her chin. "I would like for you to accompany them."

Sakura's eyes widened and, without hesitation, she shouted, "Thank you Tsunade-sama! I won't let you down!"

"Aw, why her? Wouldn't a jounin like Kurenai-sensei or Asuma-sensei be better?" Kiba complained loudly, tactlessly. Hinata shot him a look and tried to shush him. "Not that you're not a good kunoichi, Sakura, but..." Kiba added in quickly, but the Godaime herself cut in.

"I'll have you know that for over a month now, Sakura has been training under me. She's an excellent medical ninja and I can assure you she won't let you down." Tsunade's voice was flat and cutting as an unsheathed sword. "Besides which, she has a personal stake. These are her teammates."

Kiba bowed his head low, obviously chastised completely and throughly, his cheeks flushed from embarrassment. Shino coughed, and Hinata's cheeks were also red as a result of the embarrassing, tactless words of her teammate.

"I promise I won't be a burden." Sakura said solemnly, before she glanced at Kiba with a humored look. "Besides, didn't Naruto teach you a lesson about underestimating people?"

That prompted a chuckle out of everyone except Kiba.

"If that's all, then I hereby authorize this C-Ranked mission, which I will pay for out of my own account." Tsunade smiled as the genin's eyes widened, even Sakura's. "Naruto is like my little brother. I want him back just as badly as any of you, and if you can do that, I would gladly pay for it."

---

"On behalf of all of us here at the Tokyo International Airport, I'd like to welcome all of you to Japan." The official said through the speakers of the airport, her voice musical and warm.

The crowds bustled out of the plane, each of them handing their passports to various officials who were going about checking and identifying each of them.

One official, an rheumatic old man by the name of Shinji Higurashi eyed the young man in front of him curiously as he opened the young man's passport. "Your name is Pa-"

"Say it and I'll break your arms old man." The dark haired boy snarled. "Just clear me and I'll be on my way. I don't have time to deal with you."

Swallowing, Shinji stamped the passport. The boy's arms had tensed with whipcord muscles, and he had the air of a fierce, vicious fighter.

The young man grabbed his passport violently, and proceed to stalk off silently, moving through the crowd easily, as though the other arrivals felt the dangerous nature of this young man.

_That old bastard better keep his promise, just like he said he would in the letter..._ he thought darkly, fist clenching. After a moment, he relaxed his fist.

What could go wrong? All he needed to do was defeat everyone in this "Grand Tokyo Martial Arts Tournament" and then the old man would change his name once and for all. And with his "ability", that was no issue at all.

Plus, if what the old man said was true, that cross-dressing freak Saotome would be there.

_Two for the price of one_, Pantyhose Taro thought to himself, grinning viciously.


	12. Chapter 12 Alea Iacta Est

"_Beginnings are such delicate times."_

_-"Dune" by Frank Herbert_

Chapter 12

Alea Iacta Est

"Alright, today's the day." Naruto grinned, absently fitting on his ninja sandals, smoothing down his orange jumpsuit.

---

"The day of the tournament has arrived at last." Tatewaki Kuno mused, tapping his bokken against the ground lightly. Nearby, his crazed sister laughed manically.

---

"Today's the day I'm going to beat you, Saotome." Mousse boasted, standing outside of the Cat Café.

"Oh hush now, and hurry up or we'll be late." Cologne chided, turning back towards the inside of the Cat Café. "Shampoo? Are you ready yet!"

"Yes great grandmother!" Shampoo replied, stepping outside and into the sunlight, wearing a sleeveless Mandarin gown, one of her usual one piece dresses that hugged her slender form nicely.

She smiled. "Shampoo ready to win!"

---

"Don't get cocky." Akane muttered. "Just because you've gotten stronger doesn't mean everyone else hasn't."

"Aw, come on Akane." Ranma complained, grinning carelessly. "I could wipe the floor with all of 'em no sweat."

---

"Ranma's probably thinking he'll win easy." Ryoga murmured, brow furrowed as his face contorted in agitation. "That cocky bastard!"

"Hey, calm down." Ukyo said soothingly, grasping the hilt of her giant spatula. "Save that for the tournament."

Ryoga breathed out calmly, nodding. "You're right." Together, side by side, they stepped into the stadium and prepared to face whatever would come.

---

Sasuke smirked from a nearby building, watching as the other fighters begin to shuffle into the stadium. There were a few worth noting, besides the ones he had already established (Ranma, as well as that fanged one, Ryoga).

There was a giant of a man, bald with fish lips and a mustache, which made him look remarkably like an ugly, disfigured catfish. He carried a large green bundle on his pack, with pieces of wood sticking out.

Another fighter of note was a muscular young man around Ranma's age, with dark hair with bangs that spilled out over a white bandanna. He wore something that looked similar to camouflage clothing.

There was another giant of a man, this one wearing a mauve uniform and hat, which bore a single gold star upon it. What made him more threatening was the massive shamshir sword he bore upon his back.

A hooded young man stalked through the crowds as well, wearing the arrogance of one who considered all opponents beneath their level. He had seen that arrogance in Neji Hyuuga (though others would say that the Uchiha also possessed this quality), and made note of him.

He spotted Naruto's straw-gold hair and ridiculously loud orange jumpsuit weaving through the crowds, and his smirk widened.

---

Happosai chuckled to himself from atop the stadium, where even Sasuke hadn't spotted him yet. So many promising fighters, so much fun to be had.

"Let the games begin."

---

"This is the valley where the Aburamae have noted the Bikochu still exist." Shino explained having been designated team leader for this mission. Kiba stood behind him, looking bored as he absently stroked Akamaru's fur. Hinata hefted her own pack, gazing down into the massive, bowl shaped crater.

Sakura clenched her fist, her jaw set tightly. _I'll find you both... I promise._

"We only have a limited time span to find the Bikochu. If you spot it, alert the other members of the team immediately." Shino turned towards Sakura. "Do you have something of Naruto's?"

Sakura nodded, removing a kunai that Kakashi-sensei had found at the Valley of the End. "This is his. It's been in the Hokage's evidence room ever since Naruto disappeared, so it should still have his scent."

"That'll do." Shino stated, already looking back down, into the bowl-like valley. "Let's move out."

---

In the valley below, unbeknownst to the four Leaf genin, three pairs of eyes watched and studied them carefully.

"Who are those four?" Jibachi Kamizuru murmured, careful to keep his glasses out of the sun, lest the glare alert someone to his presence. He was slender and blonde, with a rather nasty expression on his face.

"Who cares." Kurobachi Kamizuru replied arrogantly, his wild, unusual dark hair and much bulkier appearance a counter to the more civilized look of his clansman.

"I care." Their leader and only female teammate, Suzumebachi Kamizuru butted in, glaring at Kurobachi with a reproving look. "Haven't you noticed? That boy with the sunglasses is an Aburamae."

At the name of Aburamae, the two males stiffened, shoulders tensed, identical looks of anger and fury upon their faces. "An Aburamae? Here?" Jibachi hissed, the nasty look on his face becoming darker. "Well, that's just a bonus to finding the Bikochu."

"Fool! That's probably while the Aburamae is here!" Kurobachi snarled. "This is bad... we can handle four genin, but if the Leaf is interested in this place, it could pose a problem for us."

"Not necessarily." Suzumebachi said slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face. "With an Aburamae here, no doubt they'll be able to find the Bikochu quickly and easily."

"Isn't that bad? After all, we need the Bikochu to find our clan's secret scroll..." Kurobachi began, but was cut off by a withering look from his female teammate.

"You idiot!" Suzumebachi snarled, looking irritable. "Once they have the scroll, all we need to do is take it from them by force."

Comprehending looks dawned upon her clansmen's faces, and Suzumebachi smiled darkly. "We'll let them do all the work."

---

"Welcome martial artists, one and all, to the first ever Grand Tokyo Martial Arts Tournament!" the announcer shouted, his voice ringing out throughout the massive stadium. "Before we begin the actual tournament, we will have preliminary matches to decide who will enter the tournament."

"Preliminaries? Surely they jest. The great Tatewaki Kuno has no need for such introductions." Kuno said arrogantly.

"These are going to be boring," Naruto muttered, arms crossed behind his head, a bored expression on his face. The looks on many of the other fighter's faces seemed to agree with the statement.

"Alright fighters, report to your designated arenas, which is listed on your ticket. Good luck to all of you!"

---

Ranma eyed his opponent warily. The young man had messy, chestnut brown hair and matching brown eyes, and wore a simple, sleeveless black shirt and black pants.

"My name is Syaoran Li." He greeted formally, bowing low.

"The name's Ranma Saotome." Ranma replied, giving his own bow.

"I wish you luck, Ranma Saotome." Syaoran said, and then was suddenly on the offensive, attacking with an unusual type of kick, placing his hands on the ground and using the momentum to do a cartwheel like attack.

Ranma dodged narrowly, only to be forced to block another powerful, straight kick from Syaoran.

His eyes widened as he felt the force behind the kick, and Ranma's mouth set into a determined line. This guy Syaoran was strong.

But no one was better than Ranma Saotome.

---

"You must be kidding! I come all the way out here for this tournament, and my first fight is against a kid?" the green haired youth smiled mockingly. He was dressed in a black open gakuran, a standard Japanese school uniform, beneath which was a bright yellow shirt.

"Hey, shut up!" Naruto snarled. "Who are you calling a kid!"

"Show some respect for your elder's kid!" the older boy replied irritably. "The name's Issei Tsubaki, Captain of Jindai High School's Martial Arts Club!"

"Who the Hell cares!" Naruto shouted, and charged forward, fists raised. "Just fight and I'll show you who's a kid!"

Tsubaki crouched, grinning as he raised his own fists. "Alright then kid, but you asked for it! Secret Art: Dynamic Strike!" in a blur of motion, his ponytail whipping behind him, the karate expert lunged forward, fingers folded just above his palm in an attack reminiscent of the Hyuuga's Jyuuken.

_He's fast!_ Naruto barely avoided Tsubaki's attack, even feeling the wind whip past his cheek from the attack.

But Naruto wasn't about to take being called a kid lying down.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Tsubaki blinked, fists raised as he stared at the four more Naruto's who had appeared in the ring. "What the- What kind of freak are you!" he shouted, eyes wide.

The Naruto's merely grinned, and slid forward, moving so fast that Tsubaki barely registered that they were underneath him, legs bent at the knee, ready to strike-

"U!"

"Zu!"

"Ma!"

"Ki!"

"NARUTO RENDAN!"

---

"You're good." Ranma said slowly, eyeing Syaoran from across the battle platform. "You keep using those kicks though... are they all you can do?"

"I was trained to fight using kicks." Syaoran replied politely. "They have worked well for me so far."

"I'll agree to that." Ranma muttered, remembering the scrapes on his arms from the glancing blows Syaoran had landed. He looked up, his voice gaining volume and strength. "You've put up a good fight, but I don't intend to lose here."

"Then come at me!" Syaoran shouted, charging forward yet again, his foot lashing out in a powerful kick.

His eyes widened as Ranma disappeared suddenly, and, barely a second later, reappeared directly in front of Syaoran, fist raised.

"This is the end! Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" again and again, Ranma's fist rained down upon Syaoran's chest and abdomen, a series of solid thwacks of flesh hitting flesh over and over again ringing out.

Finally, Ranma relented his assault, and Syaoran fell backwards to the floor, unmoving.

"The winner is Ranma Saotome!" the announcer shouted, and Ranma flashed a V sign, before turning towards Syaoran.

"Hey. You alright man?" Ranma asked, holding his hand out for the other boy.

"Yes. You were a tough foe... I see I'll have to train harder for the next time." Syaoran replied, nodding and smiling. Before he could say anything else, a loud voice cried out.

"Syaoran!" a cute, girl with light brown, almost auburn hair rushed over to Syaoran's side, kneeling next to him, concern filling her brilliant emerald green eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Sakura, I'm alright." Syaoran said, smiling as he stood up, turning towards his opponent. He grasped Ranma's still outstretched hand and shook it tightly. "Ranma Saotome, was it? I'll remember that for when we meet again."

"You too." Ranma replied, nodding his head. This tournament was already getting good...

---

"And the winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto grinned, absently grinding his foot into Tsubaki's back. "Now, I think you owe me an apology."

Tsubaki shouted as he felt Naruto's heel dig into his school uniform, eyes wide with pain. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry alright! You're not a kid!"

Naruto's grin widened. "Damn straight."

---

Sasuke leaned against the wall, waiting in a large, comfortable lounge area where the other winners of the preliminary matches were trickling in, one by one, giving Sasuke a chance to analyze and gauge them all.

Naruto, Ranma, that boy Ryoga, Akane, the girl with the spatula (Sasuke wasn't particularly pleased to see her), the old pervert Happosai, the old lady Cologne, her great granddaughter, a young man in white robes, Mr. Saotome, Mr. Tendo, as well as numerous others were all inside now.

"Welcome, winners of the preliminary matches!" the announcer, a young, handsome young man said loudly into his microphone, standing in front of a large screen. "Now that all of the preliminary matches have finished, we will now proceed to show you how the order and structure of the matches.

"The winner of each match will be decided by knockout or surrender. There is no time limit." The announcer explained. "Anything short of lethal force is accepted."

A few relieved looks crossed some faces, particularly Genma and Soun's.

Sasuke frowned. He'd have to be careful with the Chidori then... if it came to using that technique, anyway.

"You have been divided up into two different divisions, which will each fight on alternating days. The champions of each division will go on to face one another in the final match." The announcer continued. "Now, each of you come up here and take one of these tickets. This will tell you which division you will be placed in."

"I've got division two!" Naruto shouted, waving his ticket in the air.

"Me too." Akane cheered, waving her ticket as well.

"Ah, the lovely maiden Akane Tendo has joined my division? It can only be fate."

Akane rolled her eyes, looked annoyed. Ranma scowled. "Kuno, how the heck did you manage to make it through the preliminaries?"

"Surely you jest. Tatewaki Kuno is the future champion of this tournament. He won't be stopped at the preliminaries." Kuno said arrogantly, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm in division two also." Ukyo commented, and exchanged a terse glance with Akane, who gritted her teeth. The okonomiyaki chef turned away from her rival and towards a rather puzzled looking Lost Boy. "Ryoga, how about you?"

"I'm in division two with the rest of you." Ryoga replied.

"Well, I guess all of you could be my next opponent then." Cologne murmured, smiling as she eyed the younger fighters.

"You're in our division?" Akane blinked, feeling a bit of fear in her heart. Improved though she was, Cologne was on a level that was only surpassed by Happosai... and possibly Ranma, now.

"We are as well, Akane, so don't worry." Soun Tendo smiled, gesturing towards Genma.

"I guess I'm the only one of us in division one then." Ranma muttered.

"Wrong." Sasuke interrupted, smirking. He waved his ticket, which had the number one emblazoned upon it.

"Ohohoho! Ranma darling, it's been far too long!"

Ranma shuddered, and let out a peculiar mix between a groan and a moan as he leapt away, narrowly avoiding a glomp from a strange looking girl.

She was pretty, in a sort of foreign way, and the scandalously tight teal leotard she wore revealed a curvaceous body. But the slightly insane look in her eyes was far from attractive, and Ranma looked only repulsed by her presence.

"Both of you are in this?" Ranma demanded, pointing first at Kuno, then at the new girl.

"But of course. Surely the rising young star of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics world, Kodachi Kuno the Black Rose, cannot help but be victorious in the end." She let out another annoying high pitched, insane laugh.

"Kuno?" Naruto blinked, looking slightly afraid. "Don't tell me..."

"Yeah. They're brother and sister alright. Both of 'em a pair of nutjobs." Ranma muttered, annoyed.

"Ni hao Ranma! Shampoo be joining you too!" the Chinese Amazon added, attempting to embrace Ranma, who only narrowly ducked away.

"Beware, Ranma Saotome." Mousse said ominously, waving his ticket, also containing the number one. "If you face me, this time I will defeat you!"

"Or it could be me!"

Ranma groaned. "Oh no, not you!"

Happosai grinned. "You'd best watch yourself, Ranma. I'm still the Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Master, schmaster." Ranma waved his hand in dismissal. "I can take you, old man."

"The old man is _mine_, Saotome."

Ranma stiffened, and every head turned towards the dark brown haired young man in the corner.

He wore a sleeveless, forest green Chinese shirt similar to Ranma's, with a strange looking sash tied to him. Dangling from each of his ears were earrings, which were at times covered or looked attached to a single strand of hair that fell and framed his cold visage. His light blue-silver eyes were filled with a particular malice.

"Well, well, if it isn't Pantyhose Taro." Ranma grinned tauntingly.

"Don't call me that!" Taro snarled, fist clenching.

Naruto chortled, pointing at the older boy and laughing. "You're name is _Pantyhose_?"

"SHUT UP!" Taro roared, pointing violently towards Happosai. "It's all that old man's fault! He named me, and by village law, only he can change it! However..." he smiled thinly. "He promised me that if I won the tournament, he'd change my name. He swore on his perversity."

And with that, he did an about face, stalking off without another word. As they watched Taro's retreating back, another voice called out.

"Oi. Saotome."

Ranma blinked again, turning towards a bandanna wearing young man with long black bangs hanging over said bandanna, the same one in the military-like attire Sasuke had spotted and marked earlier. Up close, the resemblance to camouflage attire was even more obvious; he wore a sleeveless, tight fitting black shirt, showing off his muscular shoulders, with green straps over his shoulders that looked almost military. Completing the military look were jungle camouflage pants.

"Ryu? Ryu Kumon?" Akane asked, looking surprised.

Ryu nodded, still eyeing Ranma. "I'm not surprised I ran into you here. You'd best be prepared, Saotome." He flashed his ticket, which bore the number one. "This time, I'm not going to lose."

"Great. Just great." Ranma grumbled, scratching the back of his neck. "Just one more person who wants to take me out. This is gonna be more trouble than it's worth."

"Hi Akane."

Akane whirled around, eyes widening as she registered who was standing in front of her. "Natsume? Karumi?"

The one who greeted them, Natsume, nodded, her finely sculpted, elegant features carrying a tiny smile. Her brown hair came down in a long ponytail, save for a long strand of hair that ran down next to each of her ears. Her white gi was in perfect condition, a testament to how quickly she passed the preliminaries. "It's good to see you again."

"It is! Big sis and I were really hoping you'd be here!" the other one, undoubtedly Karumi, nodded and grinned. She was a younger than her sister, with softer features and a much cheerier look on her face, but the hair and the eyes made them easily recognizable siblings. She wore a grade school uniform, as well as a red ribbon in her brown hair.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Oh, that's right." Akane was a little surprised at herself. It felt as though both Naruto and Sasuke had been in the Tendo household for much longer than a month.

"Naruto Uzumaki, meet Natsume and Karumi." Akane said, smiling slightly.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki." Natsume bowed deeply, her features calm and placid.

"Hey, no need to be so formal!" Naruto grinned, one hand on the back of his head as he laughed.

"Hi, Naruto!" Karumi said, grinning with a smile that outmatched Naruto's.

"So how did you two meet Akane?" Naruto asked. "After all, every person I meet in this place seems to have a grudge against someone."

Natsume, just for a moment, looked rather uncomfortable.

"Naruto! That's a bit personal, don't you think?" Akane scolded, not wanting to dwell on the last time she had met up with these two girls. The sound defeat she had suffered at their hands was just one more reminder that she was at a level below the other martial artists in Nerima. Even though she was able to defeat them later on, it was still a testament to that disheartening fact.

"No, it's fine, Akane." Natsume said quietly. "You see, for many years, both my sister and myself were under the impression that our father was Soun Tendo. We came to the Tendo Dojo to take Akane's inheritance for ourselves. However, both she and Ranma managed to overcome us."

"Now we're looking for our real father!" Karumi chimed in, still looking upbeat. Natsume, on the other hand, looked rather uncomfortable, as if waiting for Naruto's harsh judgement.

"Wow. I really hope you find your dad someday!" Naruto smiled genuinely, and Natsume was caught off guard, her elegant features betraying a look of surprise.

Before they could speak again, a voice rang out over the speakers.

"Has everyone gotten their tickets?" the announcer asked, looking toward the ticket master for confirmation. When the ticker master nodded, he continued, "Very good then. Now please, write your name on your ticket and submit it into the machine here."

He gestured toward a machine against the wall; a large, unassuming thing with a single slit that was undoubtedly where the ticket would go.

After this had been done, the announcer said, "Very good. Now, the machine will randomly select the fighters for the first matches of the tournament. Only those in division one will fight tomorrow."

Every eye fixed upon the machine, waiting for who would kick off this tournament.

Ranma's fists clenched.

Happosai smoked his pipe idly.

Ryu Kumon gazed anxiously at the machine.

Sasuke watched with mild disinterest.

A cheery ping resonated from the machine. "And we have our first matches of the tournament!" the announcer smiled, gesturing toward the large screen that dominated the wall behind him. "They will be fighting in this order."

_Sasuke Uchiha vs The Dojo Destroyer_

_Ryu Kumon vs Natsume_

_Sanae vs Kodachi Kuno_

_Mu Tzu vs Sentaro Daimonji_

_Shanpu vs Mikado Sanzenin_

_Happosai vs Asuka Saginomiya_

_Sotatsu vs Copycat Ken_

_Ranma Saotome vs Principal Kuno_

"Who's Sasuke Uchiha?" a massive, bald, fish faced man bellowed, gazing about with a malicious look in his eyes. It was another of the fighters Sasuke had noticed earlier- the one who carried the large green bundle of wood. His frame was utterly, ridiculously huge, covered in an equally large gray gi.

"I assume that you're this "Dojo Destroyer" I'll be fighting, then." Sasuke said, looking bored as he stepped right in front of the Dojo Destroyer, who was more than three times his size.

"You little punk! I'll crush you!" the Dojo Destroyer snarled.

"Whatever." Sasuke muttered closing his eyes and turning away.

The larger man roared in outrage, but the announcer quickly cut in, "Any fighting between competitors outside of scheduled matches, as well as sabotage, is strictly forbidden, and will result in immediate disqualification."

Reluctantly, the Dojo Destroyer relented, pulling away, but still glaring at the Uchiha's back. "Just you wait, you little bastard. I'm going to grind you to a pulp!"

Sasuke didn't even respond, and kept on walking.

"Wow, Sasuke's pretty confident." Akane commented, looking rather uncomfortable at the spectacle.

"That Dojo Destroyer's tough. I don't know if Sasuke should be takin' him so lightly." Ranma observed, gauging both fighters.

"Nah." Naruto muttered, watching Sasuke's back with a grave look. "Sasuke's strong. He wouldn't lose to a blowhard like that."

---

"Have you noticed?" Kiba asked quietly, his voice much lower than normal.

"Yes." Shino stated clearly, inclining his head toward Hinata and Sakura. "Did you?"

"I did." Hinata replied, nodding her head. Which was expected of her- after all, she was Hyuuga.

"I suspected, but unlike the rest of you, I don't have a special Bloodline Limit to sense anything more than a bad feeling in my gut." Sakura replied, a little envious of Team Eight's advanced tracking abilities- but that was their specialty, after all.

_What was our speciality, _Sakura wondered. The other teams had abilities that were synchronized with one another- Team Seven, on the other hand, was made up of an utterly disparate group of talents that were far from synchronous.

"We're being followed." Kiba muttered, looking uneasy. "What do we do?"

"Act as normal. Continue searching for the Bikochu. If they become hostile, then we will deal with them." Shino said calmly, and Sakura was suddenly very glad he was team leader for this operation. The Aburamae was like ice. Nothing rattled him, nothing at all.

"Understood." Hinata, Kiba, and Sakura nodded.

---

"They've noticed the Rock ninja."

"Hmm... quite perceptive for a group of mere genin. But then again, with their Bloodlines, I'm not surprised."

"They haven't noticed us, eh?"

"They are just children."

"I hate this waiting. Why do we have to wait for those kids or those stupid Kamizuru ninja to find that bug?"

"Why waste our energy? They are specialized in finding this sort of thing, after all."

"Hmph."

"Patience. There's no need to rush."

"Yeah. After all, we do have three years, don't we?"

"Yes. We will have what we need, eventually."

---

Sasuke frowned, crouched atop the Tendo's roof. Sleep wasn't coming for him this night, not yet. The skills of the other fighters, the battles waiting to be fought...

No, he wouldn't be sleeping so easily this night.

_The Dojo Destroyer..._ Sasuke scoffed. The man looked like he relied on pure strength to crush an opponent.

With his speed, that man would never even touch him.

Confident in his immediate future, Sasuke's thoughts turned to what lay beyond the tournament. If they got to this China, what then? He doubted it would be so easy as simply going to the blacksmith and asking them to fix the magic mirror.

How long would it be before he was back on the same world as his brother? And how much longer after that before his family's souls could finally rest in peace?

Sasuke frowned again.

"You're up late, aren't you?" Naruto's voice was low, so as not to wake up the rest of the household.

"So are you." Sasuke replied, without turning.

"I'm not the one fighting in the first round tomorrow." Naruto shot back, using his arms as a pillow for his head as he laid down upon the roof of the Tendo's house.

"Save the worry for the weak." The Uchiha commented darkly.

"I'm not worried, you bastard. I just don't want you losing before I get a chance to crack some sense into your skull." Naruto replied, eyes closed.

"Tch. You're still on that?" Sasuke said, annoyed as he glanced at Naruto. "I told you, from this point on our paths are going in separate directions."

"And who the Hell said you could decide where my path goes? Or Sakura-chan's, for that matter?" Naruto snarled, sitting up sharply as he glared at the other boy. "You made her cry, you asshole."

Sasuke's face was unperturbed. "I'm not responsible for her feelings." He said slowly, his voice as flat and unfeeling as a knife's edge.

"You son of a bitch!" Naruto growled, grabbing the collar of Sasuke's shirt tightly, balling it within his fist. "I can forgive you for a lot of things, even betraying the Leaf." He hissed, eyes locking with Sasuke's own. "But you made Sakura-chan cry, you bastard! And that's something I won't forget."

"Did she ask you to come for me?" Sasuke asked, his voice quietly cruel, his words cutting through Naruto's rage like a white hot knife.

"... she did." Naruto admitted softly. "But what's more, I promised her I would."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, and Naruto released him from his grip, letting the Uchiha resume his position, crouched on the rooftop.

"She said she loved me, you know." Sasuke's voice was quiet, and once more, devoid of all feelings, as though he were talking about something as unemotional as the weather.

Naruto's face only betrayed the slightest hint of emotion, a rare showing of restraint. "I thought she might have said something like that." He replied, his throat tight.

"She even offered to go with me." Sasuke continued, as though Naruto had not spoken, his voice remaining calmly apathetic.

"I see." Naruto murmured, looking away.

"Still want to keep that promise?" Sasuke asked cruelly.

"Yes." Naruto's voice was unshaken and unbowed, strong as the foundations of the earth. "I don't break promises, and especially not one's to Sakura-chan."

Sasuke glanced at the blonde ninja, shaking his head slightly. "You care far too much for your bonds." He commented thinly.

"You care about yours just as much." Naruto shot back. "You care about them so much you think that cutting them off will make you stronger. You think it'll take away the feelings you have toward those people you care about. Well, it won't."

"I told you before. It's too late, Naruto. I've chosen my path." Sasuke said directly, his voice unchanged, still unfeeling.

"It's never too late to change." Naruto replied softly, his eyes and face gaining years of maturity in the moonlight.

Sasuke found himself led to believe those words, a feeling that had been felt before, by Haku, by Neji Hyuuga, by Gaara of the Desert.

And then it was gone, and Naruto yawned loudly. "Well, I'm off to bed, bastard. You should go to sleep too."

But even as Naruto left Sasuke up on the roof, his words stayed.

_It's never too late to change.

* * *

_

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire Punch)-** A series of punches so fast that they can look like a single strike. Gets its name from the training style, involving pulling Chestnuts from a fire without being burned. Often called the Chestnut Fist._

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**- Forbidden ninjutsu that only the highest ranked ninja are supposed to know. The chakra and strength of the user is distributed equally among the number of clones, and each and every one of them has a real, physical body, making it impossible to tell which is the original. Each clone can only take a single hit before disappearing, however. Also, this technique is dangerous because of the division, and because of the great amount of chakra necessary to make it properly effective._

_**Uzumaki Naruto Rendan (Uzumaki Naruto Combo)-** Naruto's first personalized taijutsu technique, utilizing the cloning ability of his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. One Naruto delivers a right cross, sending the opponent backwards. After that, three Naruto's slide under the opponent and kick the opponent into the air. The finishing blow comes from a fifth Naruto coming down on the airborne enemy with an axe kick, sending them crashing to the ground._

Who wants to play "Spot That Anime Character"? Name the non-Ranma ½ characters who appeared in this chapter!

Anyway, my gameshow host personality aside, a few things to note.

Alea Iacta Est is Latin for "The die is cast", supposedly said by Caesar as he cross the Rubicon river.

Natsume and Karumi come from a Ranma ½ OAV. Details on their fighting style and abilities will appear in the coming chapters.

Ryu Kumon appeared in the manga. He learned the Yamasenken from his father's scrolls (who happened to gain them from Gendo Saotome), and defeated Ranma with them. Ranma eventually learned the other half of those techniques, the Umisenken, and defeated Ryu, sealing both techniques away for good.

The Dojo Destroyer is a one shot anime character. More on him and other characters next chapter.

Well folks, the first matches of the tournament are out. Place your bets now!


	13. Chapter 13 Crossing The Rubicon

"_Veni, vidi, vici. (I came, I saw, I conquered.)"_

_-Julius Caesar _

Chapter 13

Crossing The Rubicon

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first match of the Grand Tokyo Marital Arts Tournament!" the announcer's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"In our first match, an unexpected young fighter, Sasuke Uchiha, will face the intimidating Dojo Destroyer!" the announcer's voice was suffused with the dramatic. "Can this previous unheard of young man defeat the giant martial artist who is said to have crushed nearly a hundred martial arts dojos?"

Sasuke made a scoffing noise, a cocky smirk on his face as he strode into the arena, without a care in the world, arms loose at his sides.

From the opposite end of the arena, the Dojo Destroyer stomped through the doorway, barely managing to fit through the entrance. His large bundle of wooden planks was still on his back. He grinned, looking every bit as confident as Sasuke.

"Once again, the rules are simple." The announcer reminded both the fighters and the crowd, to most unnecessarily. "A winner is counted only after a knockout or if the other fighter surrenders of their own free will. This is a single round fight, and once you've been defeated, you are eliminated from the tournament."

"Want to quit now, little boy? You can go run home to your mommy." The Dojo Destroyer taunted, grinning.

A dark, murderous look spread like a cancer across Sasuke's face, and the Dojo Destroyer took an involuntary step back, unnerved by the darkness in that gaze.

Sasuke's coal black eyes vanished, replaced with the crimson, otherworldly gaze of Sharingan. The dots spun furiously, revealing the full rage behind those eyes.

"I'm going to make you suffer for that one." Sasuke hissed viciously, crouching low. His killing intent was charging the arena, casting a tremor of terror through his opponent's soul.

The Dojo Destroyer forced out a laugh, trying to regain his confidence. The boy was so much smaller than him, after all. "Just try it, boy!"

"And now... FIGHT!"

The word fight was still booming from the loudspeakers when Sasuke rushed forward, striking forward with his fist. The Dojo Destroyer let out a single, booming laugh and lashed out contemptuously with one hand.

As if guided by his hand, the wooden boards on his back were suddenly flying, blocking Sasuke's attack with a solid thud.

Sasuke pulled back, doing a few backward leaps, unsure of what he was dealing with.

The Dojo Destroyer laughed loudly, and the wooden boards began to fly in an orbit around his massive frame, scores of them, moving close to the limits of Sharingan's capability to see.

"Not so cocky now, are you boy?" the Dojo Destroyer sneered.

---

"Whoa... it's like Gaara and his sand..." Naruto muttered, blinking as he watched the fight begin.

"The Dojo Destroyer's tough, like I said." Ranma reminded him, watching the fight with a serious look in his eyes. He wanted to fight Sasuke very badly. But right now was a good chance to scope out more of Sasuke's fighting ability.

"I do hope Sasuke won't be hurt badly." Kasumi said, looking a bit worried.

"Do you think Sasuke can win?" Akane asked, eyes also glued to the fight.

"The current odds are ten to one against Sasuke." Nabiki commented airily, checking a calculator and idly ticking off something in a notebook. "Most people seem to think size matters."

"Sasuke'll win." Naruto said determinedly. "He's a lot stronger than any of you know."

"Well, if he does, some people will make a killing." Nabiki said slyly. "I'll take your word for it, and I'll put my bet on Sasuke."

"Nabiki!" Akane scolded, looking rather scandalized.

Nabiki smiled a fox's smile. "Well, what can I say? Naruto's confidence is a bit infectious."

---

Sasuke charged forward, lashing out with his foot in a powerful crescent kick. Once again, the Dojo Destroyer merely hurled up the boards, which easily deflected his attack. Not willing to give up the fight just yet, the Uchiha twisted away, striking out with his other leg.

And again, the moving stream of boards blocked the attack with a solid thud.

Sasuke frowned, retreating again, barely avoided a powerful strike from the massive fists of the Dojo Destroyer. Close combat looked like an unnecessary risk at the moment; after all, he had other means of attacking.

_Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!_

The crowd let out a nearly simultaneous array of gasps as a barrage of fireballs erupted from Sasuke's mouth, hurtling towards the Dojo Destroyer.

The mountain of a man merely "humphed" in a dismissive tone, and lashed out with his hand to send the boards flying forward, smashing the fireballs and dissipating them with the force of his rather formidable defense.

"You fool! Not even fire has an effect on these boards!" he roared, laughing. "I am the Dojo Destroyer, and these are the dojo signs I've collected after defeating dojo after dojo. They are infused with my ki! You cannot defeat me!"

"Give me time." Sasuke growled, rushing forward, straight for his opponent.

"Idiot boy!" the Dojo Destroyer snarled, lashing out with his hand, directing the boards to smash Sasuke into the ground- or at least, where he would have been a second ago.

Sasuke, propelled by a running leap, was directly above the Dojo Destroyer, hands moving in a rapid set of seals as he gulped down as much air as possible with a single deep breath.

_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!_

The flames of the inferno washed over the Dojo Destroyer's massive form, and Sasuke smirked as the heat from the attack filled the atmosphere.

The smirk faded a second later when a stream of wooden boards tore out of the fireball, completely unharmed, and delivered a crushing blow to Sasuke's chest, sounding out with a vicious crunch.

---

As Sasuke's rather limp looking body hit the ground with a nasty thud, the crowd went up in groans and winces of sympathy.

"Ouch." Ranma muttered, actually looking rather sympathetic with the boy he considered to be one of his biggest rivals.

"Oh my." Kasumi placed a dainty hand on her lips, looking a bit concerned.

"He'll live." Naruto said offhandedly, unconcerned. "I've hit him worse than that and he's hit me even harder a second later."

Sasuke staggered to his feet not a moment after Naruto finished, looking winded, ragged, and supremely annoyed.

"Ooh... he's angry now." Naruto grinned, looking amused. "This will be good."

---

"Still standing, huh boy?" the Dojo Destroyer sneered contemptuously. "You're a tough little cockroach, aren't you?" he lashed out again and again, sending a stream of boards smashing into the ground where Sasuke had been just a second before, kicking up dust and debris.

Sasuke dodged from side to side, waiting for his opening, the mask of annoyed fury on his face still on.

The Dojo Destroyer lashed out again, sending a long stream of boards right toward Sasuke, who seemed to be rushing the attack head on. At the last moment, however, Sasuke turned his body slightly, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Eyes widened across the arena.

Sasuke smirked, his hands moving into a set of seals Naruto knew very, very well.

---

"Oh no. Oh no." Naruto murmured, looking agitated as he watched Sasuke grip his left wrist with his right hand, and an otherworldly blue glow began to shine brightly on his left hand.

"What is that?" Akane breathed, eyes wide in amazement.

Ranma's eyes were wide as well. _No way... that just looks like my technique, but focused just on the hand..._

"Don't do it Sasuke..." Naruto pleaded desperately, but it was too late.

Sasuke's face, lit up by the flashing blue light, looked vicious and cruel. "You said something about me running to my mother earlier, didn't you?" he asked rhetorically, his smile a twisted, mocking thing. "Well, here, you can go meet her!"

And with that, the Uchiha was nothing but a blur of motion and lightning, loose bolts from the attack tearing apart the ground where he passed.

"Stay back! Stay back!" The Dojo Destroyer's eyes were wide and fearful, his giant frame shaking, his entire body coursing with fear. His boards were too far to recall fast enough, he had overextended himself...

"DON'T KILL HIM!" Naruto begged loudly, sitting straight up from his seat in the stands. Only the fact that Akane and Ranma were both gripping his clothes kept him from jumping down into the arena.

_If you kill him Sasuke... you'll have crossed a line, _Naruto thought, face tense, fists clenched in helpless anger. _And if that happens, I don't know if I can ever get you to change back. _

Sasuke's smirk turned deadly.

The chirping of exactly one thousand birds filled the air.

"Chidori!"

---

It was over in an instant.

The Dojo Destroyer, eyes stricken with numbing fear, whipped his other hand out, sending up a shield of boards, just as Sasuke closed the distance, the sounds of the Chidori ringing throughout the silenced arena.

Within the span of a single moment, Sasuke's Chidori easily tore through the boards as though they were made of tissue paper. Without a single moment of hesitation or pause, Sasuke's Chidori plunged forward, slicing into the flesh of the Dojo Destroyer, who screamed out in pained, choked agony.

Smirking, Sasuke planted his feet on the Dojo Destroyer's chest, and, with a scoff, kicked off, removing his hand from the Dojo Destroyer's flesh, the fierce glow of the Chidori fading away.

The massive mountain of a man toppled to the floor, silent and graceless as a felled giant oak, eyes blank with the shocking force of the Chidori.

Sasuke landed gracefully, knees bent, eyes closed in satisfaction. His shirt had a few droplets of blood, nothing too outrageous... his hand, on the other hand, was completely clean.

"SASUKE!" Naruto roared from somewhere in the stands, looking furious, betrayed, and hurt.

The Uchiha turned around, glancing at Naruto with a wicked smirk on his face. "Relax, dead last." He sneered offhandedly. "He's not dead. I pierced his shoulder, nothing serious."

Naruto blinked, mouth opening and closing soundlessly, like a fish gasping for air. After a moment, his face reddened with fury and he stormed off.

The crowd still seemed in shock, silence hanging over the arena like an ominous thundercloud.

Finally, the announcer seemed to get his wits back, and said in a shaky, awed voice, "And the winner is Sasuke Uchiha! What an astonishing performance, and what a way to kick off the first match of this tournament!"

Sasuke made a "tch" noise, turning around, hands in his pockets as he stalked out of the arena, as though nothing at all had happened, ignoring the cheering from the crowd.

Ranma's fists were clenched, and his eyes widened as he realized they were shaking, digging into his palms so hard that it was hurting seriously starting to hurt.

"What power." Akane murmured, hand over her mouth, eyes just as wide as everyone else in the arena.

Akane's words seemed to jar Ranma back to reality. Swallowing hard, Ranma nodded reluctantly. "Yeah... he's going to be a lot tougher to beat than I thought."

_Just who is Sasuke? And Naruto, for that matter?_

---

"That was way too much Sasuke!" Naruto snarled, glaring at Sasuke as they stood, alone save for the other, in the locker rooms where fighters were to prep for their own fights.

"He didn't die." Sasuke replied lightly, looking bored. "I don't see the problem."

"If you go up against Ranma, will you use it?" Naruto asked, his voice running a dangerous tone.

Sasuke's face was shadowed for a moment, even in the light. "If it comes to that." He said flatly.

An empty silence descended between the two.

Outside, the announcer's voice boomed across the speakers, loud and cheerful and rather false-sounding.

The second match had begun.

---

"Wow, Natsume's just as good as ever." Akane commented, a wistful note in her tone as she watched Natsume unleash yet another powerful gust at Ryu Kumon, who was fighting defensively, though not by choice.

Ranma, possibly due to his training, his time with Akane, or just plain using his brain for once, replied offhandedly, "Ah, don't sweat it Akane. You've gotten a lot stronger. You could take her."

Akane's head jerked and she stared at Ranma in disbelief, even as her fiancee was completely focused on the match. _Did he really just say that?_

"Ouch." Ranma muttered, watching as Ryu pushed through the wind, dealing a particularly powerful kick to Natsume's stomach. Winded but not out yet, Natsume responded with a series of swipes from her weapon, a rug beater, which Ryu took a few hits from.

"They're pretty evenly matched." Ranma noted, watching as Ryu suddenly ducked Natsume's swing, trying to deliver a powerful blow to her stomach.

Akane blinked, remembering the fight, and turned back towards it once again.

Natsume, having dodged Ryu's attack, struck out again with a powerful sweep towards his head. Ryu, however, nimbly stepped backwards, just out of range, and then came forward with a powerful punch, back by a charging motion.

Natsume evaded the attack, unleashing a powerful blast of wind once again, which howled a battle cry that rang throughout the arena.

Ryu responded with by slamming his cupped palms together horizontally, at the wrist. He shouted something that was lost in the winds of Natsume's attack, but the result was clear as a blast of blue ki slammed into the storm and punched right on through.

_Pretty strong,_ Ranma filed that away for future reference. He didn't catch the name of the attack, but he was sure it had at least as much power as the Moko Takabisha, possibly even more. He was impressed, considering that only a short while ago, Ryu had to rebuild his entire fighting style.

Or perhaps he was using what he had learned about ki techniques from the Yama-Sen-Ken Ranma forbade him to use and simply building a whole new style from that basis. Either way, his progress was remarkable.

Natsume's eyes widened as she was lifted bodily by Ryu's ki blast, thrown through the air to slam painfully into the ground.

"Natsume!" Kurumi said loudly, a few rows down from where Ranma and Akane were sitting. "You can do it!"

As if urged on by her sister's words Natsume staggered to her feet, her jaw set tightly, wiping a bit of blood from her jaw. Shifting her grip to the middle of the handle, Natsume whirled the rug beater above her head, and the winds picked up fiercely, turning into a massive dervish around her body.

Ryu looked impressed, holding himself a distance away. Ranma was nearly out of his seat by now, totally engrossed in the fight.

Natsume suddenly leapt into the air and gripped the end of the rug beater, spinning it out in a wider rotation. The howling, fierce wind began swirling around her weapon. As she finished the end of her rotation, she lashed out, unleashing a destructive tornado toward Ryu.

The crowd gasped in unison as dust and loose bits of debris were kicked up by the tornado.

Ryu, a determined look on his face, retreated backwards, and from Ranma's now enhanced ki senses, he detected a sudden surge in Ryu's ki, centering on his legs and right hand.

"Shinshoken!" Like an ascending meteor, Ryu rocketed from the ground by kicking off from it with impressive force. His fist, raised in an uppercut motion, was blazing with bright, fierce blue ki that created a kind of shroud around his body, pushing through Natsume's winds as though they were nothing.

Natsume's eyes widened as Ryu closed in, and, with incredible force, struck out, his technique blazing as it slammed into her stomach. As it connected, Natsume's eyes went blank, and, after Ryu pushed forward, she hit the ground with a harsh thud.

Ryu landed next, gracefully, his back turned to Natsume, his fist returning to normal, his eyes closed, the picture of victory.

"AND THE WINNER IS RYU KUMON!"

Ryu cocked his head, turning towards Ranma with a challenging look in his eyes. Ranma glared back defiantly.

"He's going to be tough to beat, huh Ranma?" Akane said quietly. Ranma didn't answer, but then again, he didn't need to.

---

Naruto whistled, arms tucked behind his head as he watched them carry Natsume out of the arena on a stretcher, her little sister Kurumi tagging along every step of the way with a worried look on her face. "That guy is pretty tough." He commented, glancing at Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked where others would have grinned. "Yeah... I think fighting him might be very interesting..."

Naruto looked almost bored as he stared at Sasuke. "You know, you're pretty creepy when you talk like that."

---

Natsume's eyes opened, and the first thing she understood was that she had lost. "Damn," she cursed, uncharacteristic of her normally polite, serene manner. But she had been knocked out in the first round of the tournament...

"Natsume!" Kurumi's face appeared in view, unusually concerned.

"Kurumi? Where am I?" Natsume murmured, looking around. She was lying in a hospital bed, the curtains packed to the sides, allowing her to glimpse the infirmary that had been mentioned by the info pamphlets at the beginning of the tournament.

At the other end of the room, the massive form of the Dojo Destroyer lay unconscious, on top of two beds put together and still barely fitting on them.

"That bad man beat you up! But don't worry, I'll get him!" Kurumi said confidently, looking fiercely determined to avenge her sister's defeat.

"No, Kurumi." Natsume replied slowly, picking herself up so that the pillows allowed her to sit upwards in bed. "I was defeated in one on one honorable combat. There is no shame in being defeated by a strong opponent."

Kurumi allowed the words to sink in, slinking back into the chair next to her sister's bed. "Okay, fine. But I'll win this tournament, just you wait and see!" she promised, her voice strong.

There was a quiet knock on the hospital door, and both sister's turned to see Ryu Kumon leaning against the doorframe, looking sheepish and uncomfortable. "I... I came to see how you were doing. I... I hadn't tested the Shinshoken properly, and I was... concerned." His cheeks were stubbornly red.

Natsume flushed prettily. "Oh. Well, I'm fine." She said quietly, looking down at her folded hands. "That was an impressive attack."

"Thank you." Ryu replied softly. "You were very impressive yourself. The Shinshoken is a desperation move... you are extremely skilled to force me to use that technique."

Natsume, unused to such compliments, said shyly, "And you must be even stronger to be able to defeat me." They glanced at each other, smiling slightly.

Kurumi looked at her sister, then Ryu, then back again. Finally, she grinned impishly and said teasingly, "Should I leave?"

Jolted from the moment, Ryu and Natsume blushed again and chorused, "No!"

Kurumi laughed loudly.

---

"The next match of this tournament features the beautiful Kodachi Kuno. Many of you may have heard of Miss Kuno as the rising star of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World."

The crowd (especially the male sections) cheered loudly for Kodachi (and her tight, form fitting leotard, of course).

"And her opponent is a member of the Daimonji School Of Martial Arts Tea Ceremony, Sanae!"

"Wait..." Akane said slowly, "Isn't Sanae the-"

Eyes and jaws literally dropped in the arena.

"No way." Naruto muttered, dazed, mouth dropping open and eyes as wide as humanly possible. Next to him, Sasuke looked a little better, but not by much.

"A monkey?" Sasuke said incredulously.

"A monkey? This is who they send to face the might of the Black Rose, Kodachi Kuno?" Kodachi laughed loudly in a high, shrill voice, whipping a red ribbon around herself in a whirlwind pattern.

Indeed, it was a brown furred monkey, standing there, tea kettle in hand, wearing a frilly dress and a bow in its hair (well, the hair on its head).

Kodachi continued laughing, and the crowd continued staring.

Until Sanae threw the tea kettle at Kodachi's head.

What followed could only be described as the worse case of cruelty to animals seen by most people thus far in their lives.

---

"AND THE WINNER IS KODACHI KUNO THE BLACK ROSE!"

Naruto shook his head, looking a bit shocked. "That was a bit... unnecessary." He said lightly, chuckling weakly.

"She's insane." Sasuke commented, rolling his eyes.

"Said the kettle to the pot." Naruto replied impishly, cackling at the mere mention of the word "kettle".

"Shut up dead last."

"Make me, asshole."

---

"For the fourth round of this tournament, we will see the mysterious Mu Tzu, practitioner of Chinese black magic, face off against Sentaro Daimonji, heir to the Daimonji Martial Arts Tea Ceremony School. Let's hope Sentaro fares much better than his comrade, Sanae, did in her last match."

"Mousse'll win." Ranma said lightly, looking bored. "Man, between this and last fight, I'm getting so bored out here."

"Quiet Ranma!" Akane scolded, shushing him as the fight began.

---

"This fight is utterly pathetic." Sasuke spat, watching as Mousse shredded Sentaro's teapot with a barrage of knives attached to chains.

"That Mousse guy is pretty good though. Maybe you'll fight him." Naruto commented, leaning against the wall.

"I'll beat him. I'll crush them all." Sasuke said lightly, his nose still wrinkled in contempt.

"Someone's cranky." Naruto muttered, staring at Sasuke with a blank look.

"I'm going to get some food." Sasuke said, pretending he didn't hear.

"Oi! Wait up asshole!" Naruto shouted, chasing the other genin down the tunnel that lead to outside the arena. "I'm hungry too!"

---

"We're running out of time." Shino said flatly, after each member of the team reported no sign of the Bikochu. "Within the next three days, the Bikochu will hatch its eggs. If that window passes us, we may not get another chance."

Sakura tightened her fists. "Then we'll just have to find it in the time we have left." She replied determinedly.

"How?" Kiba asked, annoyed, arms tucked behind his head as he shot her an irritated look. "We've still got ground to cover, and this bug isn't exactly glaringly obvious." He looked around surreptitiously, his voice lowering, "Plus, there's those ninja who've been following us."

"We don't know there intentions. We can't assume anything." Shino cut in, pushing his sunglasses up to the bridge of his nose. "But it does add an element of risk to this mission."

"It doesn't matter!" Sakura snapped, turning the members of Team Eight toward her. "I'm not giving up on Naruto or Sasuke! We all know Naruto would do the same for us. Can we do any less?"

Kiba looked uncomfortable, sharing a glance with Shino.

"Sakura is right." Hinata said quietly, and the gazes focused on her, causing her to blush and glance downwards. "Naruto-kun would never abandon us. We can't just give up."

"Then it's settled. We continue the search." Shino said calmly.

---

As Mousse and Sentaro left the arena, the former with a confident grin, the latter bleeding and carried on a stretcher, Ranma began yawning. "Oh great. Next is that dumb Mikado against Shampoo."

Akane blinked. "Hey Ranma... Mikado loves kissing beautiful girls as soon as he meets them, right?"

Ranma nodded, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Don't remind me."

Akane grinned. "Well... doesn't Shampoo have a policy about kissing too?"

Her fiancee's face slowly showed his realization, and he grinned too.

"This'll be good."

---

"From the wilderness of China, the exotic Amazon beauty, Shan Pu!"

As with Kodachi, the males were particularly loud in their cheering as Shampoo stalked in slowly, smiling sultrily, wearing a tight Mandarin dress that complimented her figure exquisitely.

"And her opponent, a member of the Golden Pair of Martial Arts Figure Skating, Mikado Sanzenin!"

The young man was handsome, his aristocratic features winning him massive amounts of cheers from the female portion of the crowd, many of whom were irritated at the cheering their male counterparts had been doing earlier. He wore a loose fitting blue sweatshirt, white slacks, and ice skates at his feet.

"What a beautiful girl... I hope I won't have to mar any of that beauty." Mikado murmured, his blue eyes sparkling as he ran his hand through his wavy brown hair.

"Before we begin," Mikado said slowly, an affable smile on his face as he strolled toward Shampoo, "I'd like to give you my special hello." And with that, he pressed his lips against Shampoo's, before she could react.

Ranma grinned. "He's a dead man."

---

"Another brutal beating." Naruto mumbled, scratching the back of his neck. He winced as Mikado let out another pained scream.

"Culling the weak from the herd." Sasuke shrugged. "Next round will be much more interesting."

Naruto yawned. "Well, anyway, I think this one's just about-" a nasty sounding crunch tore throughout the arena, and Naruto shook his head pityingly, "Finished."

"And the winner is the lovely Shan Pu!"

---

"Oh great. The old freak's up next." Ranma groaned. "This is going to be a painful one."

"Isn't Asuka that 'White Lily'? The one who's enemies with Kodachi the Black Rose?" Akane questioned.

"Yeah." Ranma replied offhandedly. "Bet the old freak's going to love this match-up." He stood up, turning towards the exit.

"Ranma?" Akane blinked, looking confused.

"The old man ain't gonna lose this one, Akane." He said slowly, walking off. "I'm gonna go get ready for my fight."

---

"First off, we have Asuka Saginomiya, the White Lily!" Male sections, once again, were cheering as loud as they could.

"And her opponent is the venerated master of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Happosai!"

The female sections were even louder than the males... as they booed Happosai, the most infamous pervert in all of Japan.

"I'm fighting a troll? Is this a joke?" Asuka wrinkled her nose, her refined beauty marred by the haughty look on her face.

"SWEETO!"

"AH! Let me go this instant you pervert!"

---

Naturally, Ranma was proven correct in his assumption, and Happosai emerged victorious after a hedonistic session of groping until the poor girl finally fainted.

And naturally, the females (and even some of the males) were both disgusted and amazed that the old man would win through such a dirty tactic.

"For our next match, we will feature the kunoichi Konatsu against the infamous Copycat Ken! Months ago, Copycat Ken had defeated many martial artists with their own techniques, but hadn't been heard from again until this tournament. What a treat, ladies and gentlemen!"

Copycat Ken waved and looked rather pleased with himself. He was a rather skinny, dark haired young man, wearing a sleeveless red shirt and blue overalls. Around his neck was a camera attached by a strap, and his head was wrapped in an orange bandanna with yellow spots dotting the cloth.

"A kunoichi?" Naruto blinked, gazing at the pretty girl that was Ken's opponent.

"She's probably nothing like a real kunoichi." Sasuke scoffed. "Remember, no one else can perform jutsu in this world. Whatever she's going to use, it'll be parlor tricks."

---

"And the winner is Copycat Ken!"

"He's like you," Naruto commented airily, watching as the bandanna wearing Copycat Ken grinned, looking rather pleased with himself.

"That camera of his is nothing like Sharingan." Sasuke scowled, feeling insulted that Naruto would dare compare him to a charlatan like that.

"Touchy, touchy." Naruto teased, but was already looking toward the arena once again.

It was time for the final round.

And it was not going to be epic.

"For the final match of this round, we will see Ranma Saotome, of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, face off against his very own principal, Principal Kuno of Furinkan High School. It's student against the administration!"

"Kuno? What, more of 'em?" Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes. "Guess he must be the dad, then. No wonder they're so messed up."

"Aloha, Ranma!" Principal Kuno looked vastly different from the aristocratic features of his children. His skin was deeply tanned instead of the pale white of his offspring, and he was stocky rather than slender. His attire was also drastically different- he wore tacky red rimmed sunglasses, a loose fitting blue shirt, a yellow flower leis, and a red rose just beneath the leis.

"This'll be quick." Ranma muttered.

---

"Pineapple bombs?" Naruto laughed loudly, grinning as he watched the Principal hurl another fake pineapple loaded with explosives.

Ranma ducked the bomb and leapt forward, charging even as the

"This is ridiculous." Sasuke muttered, feeling like he had stepped into some alternate universe where common sense and sane combat tactics no longer existed.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

The impacts were solid and resounded throughout the arena, finishing with a particularly hard blow to finish the match. Principal Kuno's eyes went blank and he let out a low groan, toppling onto the ground with a quiet thud.

Ranma grinned. "Didn't even break a sweat."

"That one wasn't even worth betting on." Nabiki murmured, looking bored.

"The winner is Ranma Saotome!"

---

"Still nothing, huh?" Kiba asked, as Sakura and Hinata came back from searching, both of them looking dirty and disappointed.

"We'll try again tomorrow. It's dark enough that it'd be nearly impossible to find the Bikochu." Shino said slowly, staring into their campfire, its light reflecting off the darkness of his glasses.

They were silent after that, and the sounds of the insects around them filled the gap in place of words.

After a while, Kiba spoke in a quiet tone, "Do you think they're safe? You know... wherever they are?"

"I hope so." Hinata said softly, her tone barely audible through the merry crackling of the campfire.

"They are." Sakura said firmly, gazing up into the stars. "I trust Naruto completely. He's the only person Sasuke-kun respects enough to listen to."

"Why'd he do it?" Kiba asked, brow furrowed in consternation. "I don't get it. Why would Sasuke just up and leave for the Sound like that?"

Sakura's throat clenched. She remembered what he had said to her, just before he left. But...

"I had heard that it had something to do with the Uchiha massacre." Shino said quietly.

"That was a horrible tragedy." Hinata whispered, remembering how even her own father was in shock over the news.

"Who did that, anyway?" Kiba questioned, glancing around the campfire. "No one ever talks about it."

"That's a good question." Shino said slowly, a contemplative look settling behind his glasses. "Who could possibly be strong enough to wipe out the Uchiha Clan?"

Sakura looked down, a melancholy look in her eyes. She didn't know who Sasuke was so angry at, who Sasuke wanted to kill so badly that he would leave them all behind.

Did Naruto?

"Yeah..." Sakura said softly, "Who?"

And, barely a mile away, the only Uchiha still on that world sneezed.

His partner glanced at him, an amused look on his shark-like features. "You sick or somethin', Itachi?"

* * *

Author's Notes

Techniques

_**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire Style- Art of the Phoenix Flower, the Touch-Me-Not)- **A burst of multiple, smaller fireballs sent at the opponent. _

_**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**- The user uses up a large amount of chakra, gathered in their chest with a deep breath, and exhales out a massive fireball. Can be controlled into a flamethrower using one's hands. An Uchiha family speciality. _

**_Chidori_** **_(Thousand Birds)_**- _A-level ninjutsu technique. The user grabs their wrist, and focuses chakra until it becomes visible, usually as blue lightning. It's used as a swift, powerful finishing blow that requires a great deal of speed and the Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) to complete. It gets its name from the chirping sound it makes when it strikes. _

_**Shinshoken (Rising God Fist)- **A powerful upward blow that creates an ki aura around the attack, which can deflect many attacks while ascending._

With regards to last chapter, I must explain that the Dojo Destroyer character I'm using is the anime version, who was condescending and more malicious than his manga self apparently was.

Also, I've seen multiple translations of Kurumi's name. I was originally using the Ranma ½ perfect edition site's translation, which was Karumi, but since more sources translate it as Kurumi, I've decided to trust them.

Ryu Kumon's new techniques are a tribute to Ryu from Street Fighter (which I don't own). Shinshoken, for example, is similar to Shoryuken- but not totally similar.


End file.
